Jesus Christ calls His people to witness, but of what—to what—exactly are we witnesses? Of the historical existence in the first century of someone named Jesus of Nazareth? That’s unnecessary, because He’s mentioned in secular records. Of His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead? James wrote, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” (James 2:19 NKJV) So of what are we witnesses—because, if we aren’t clear on this point, we certainly won’t be effective at doing it.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 BSB)
The entire coming of Jesus, God’s Christ, is an amazing miracle. The Spirit of God—without the involvement of a man—caused Mary to become pregnant with the eternal Word of God (who in the beginning already was with God and was God), resulting in a human being not under the curse of sin qualified to bear the penalty for the world’s sin.
So to answer the question: to what are we today witnesses of?
In an increasingly spiritually deadened world, we are witnesses to the existence of God, who loved sinful humanity enough to initiate and complete its redemption through His Son, Jesus Christ. Redemption from what, though? That’s the million dollar question! What have we been saved from?
If asked, most would say it’s from hell—from punishment for our sins after we die. That answer, though technically correct, is like saying we have a car for the purpose of opening the door and sitting in it. Sure, it is—but isn’t its greater purpose to bring us somewhere? The greater purpose of Jesus Christ’s saving (redeeming) us from sin is to actually free us—get us out—from a sin-saturated life. It’s literally to, “…save His people from their sins.”(Matthew 1:21 NKJV)
What we’ve personally witnessed in our own lives and are now witnessing to others is the power of God through Christ to save us from our sins—if we’ve been saved from our sins. (Because if we haven’t been—if we’re still enmeshed and entrapped in sin in our own lives—how can we witness to God’s power to free us from it?)
I think this is the problem when we consider witnessing Christ to people. We haven’t allowed the reality of His death on the cross and resurrection to have its full effect in us, and because of this feel grossly under-qualified to tell others.
Yet consider that Paul, the evangelist who wrote much of what we call the New Testament, said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1 NIV)
Can we say the same to someone else—be it our children or our neighbors, coworkers or extended relations? Is our life so circumspect that it is worthy of being copied in an effort to live a Christ-worthy life?
Most of us squirm at the thought; we might even secretly feel Paul was arrogant to say that—as if he wasn’t aware of how spiritually bankrupt he was (as we all are). But that’s not true—he understood who he had been without Christ:
“For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:9-10 NIV)
I think that’s the point: following Christ requires hard work. That’s why eternity is referred to in Hebrews as a rest from our labors. If we’re not laboring here, though—what rest would we need to look forward to? Why would Jesus tell us to overcome; to persevere? Why would Paul write to run as if we are in a race? And why would Jesus say the path that leads to eternal life is only found by few?
Because the forgiveness and acceptance we have through Christ is a gift of God and not attained by our own efforts, I think we get confused and believe there is no work required of us. We think we just “accept” the gift of salvation, and God somehow supernaturally confers on us the status of “the saved of God”—and then life goes on, with little if any change on our part, until we die and go to heaven.
We do believe that Christ paid the penalty for our sins and repent, at which point we do become “the saved of God.” This part is true. But then—the rest of our lives and the beginning of our labors for Him and His kingdom begin. The new birth and coming to faith is not the end—but the beginning!
The rest is the evidence of the former. If there is no “after coming-to-faith,” was there even a “coming-to-faith” to begin with? Consider that.
God saved us through faith in Christ—who He is, and what He has and is doing in us. But we must cooperate with His Spirit working in us “both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13b NKJV)
We must begin allowing Him to transform us through faith in who He is and His power, into His holy people:
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (I Peter 2:9 NKJV)
And if we’re standing up for and actively pursuing His holiness, evidenced in and through our lives—we have become first-hand witnesses of Him!
Dear Lord Jesus Christ,
Help us be faithful witnesses of You! Amen.
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