Believers and Unbelievers - Part One

BELIEVERS AND UNBELIEVERS - Part One

 

Try to make clear the distinction between believers and unbelievers. The world recognizes different social classes, but for God there are only two classes in the world; believers and unbelievers.

 

1. The contrast in respect to sin.

(a) The believer is saved. 

(b) The unbeliever is lost. 

(c) The believer is dead to sin. 

(d) The unbeliever is dead in sin.

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In your school there are many grades, and in each grade there are many different classes of pupils. Perhaps some are bright, and some are rather stupid; some are pretty and some are homely, some are strong and well, and some are often sick. But when God looks down at your school, or at any other group of people in the world, He does not pay any attention to these classes, but divides all the people into just two groups, those who are believers and those who are unbelievers. If we could build a long, long fence, and gather all the people in the world together, we could put all of them either on one side of the fence or the other. No one could be sitting on the fence, for there is no such thing as being half believer. It is very important to know on which side of the fence you are, for believers have many wonderful things, and unbelievers have many terrible things.

You know what happens the moment you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your own Saviour. You are saved, for we read in Acts 16:31, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Many other wonderful things happen at the same time, and we shall study some of them. 

 

But first of all think of the difference between those who are on the “Saved” side of the fence, and those who are on the other side—the side of the Unbelievers. If we write “Saved” over the believers, what word shall we write over the unbelievers? That is right, the word is "lost.” Do you know what it means to be lost? When you say you have lost your pencil, you mean that it is gone; it is no more use to you, for you cannot find it. When a soul is lost it is no use to God. But you may also say that a ship is lost at sea. What do you mean by that? You may have all the pieces of the ship together in one place, but if it is a lost ship it is of no more use; it is damaged and destroyed. So a lost soul is damaged. God knows where it is, but it is far from Him, and in a terribly dangerous state. For if a soul stays lost until death, it will be lost forever. The good news that we have to tell to unbelievers, those who are lost, is that they can come over to the saved side of the fence right away, if they only will. The Lord Jesus is the door. By Him, if any one enters in, he will be saved. (Look up the references and discuss them, having the children mark them in their Bibles. Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 1:9; John 3:18; 2 Corinthians 4:3,4)

 

Did you know that a great many of the people whom you meet on the street are dead? They may be walking along just as you are, but if they have not believed on the Lord Jesus they are dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1). Their souls are dead. You remember the story of the first sin. God told the man and the woman that in the day they disobeyed Him, they would surely die. They did die—first their souls, then their bodies. Ever since that time, men and women have been dead as long as they were unbelievers. It is only when they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ that they receive life? What does John 3:16 say about this? And what about 1 John 5:12? The semicolon in the middle of that verse is like a fence between the saved and the lost, between those who are dead, and those who are alive.

 

But, strange as it may seem, Christians can be dead, too! But it is a good kind of deadness—for the Bible says that we are dead unto sin. We have the new eternal life which God gave us the moment we believed, and our old sinful life, God says has been crucified with Christ. So now, when Satan comes to tempt us, we can say, I am dead to sin; I do not have to yield to your temptation.” Rom. :ll is Gods Word to us about this wonderful kind of deadness.

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