I am not as dogged about the use of the words “a sinner like me,” as the author of the article below, but I do understand her point. And the heart of the message is about children, and young people who grow up in a church environment, attend regular Sunday school classes, go to Vacation Bible School, attend all the activities, and so on. And then at a very young age, some as children, due to the environment and the pressure not only from peers, but from parents and other adults a child succumbs to that pressure, that constant environmental situation, and declares “I’m saved!”

And everyone rejoices!

Whilst not understanding there are those who are authentically, genuinely, truly, really transformed, regenerated, born anew from within, within their heart and mind to have a new mind, a new way of thinking as they have been truly justified, truly, really, actually, factually, sincerely, genuinely been born again…

…and then those who make a declaration, work to be obedient, to be good, to make others happy, make their parents happy, their relatives who may be in the church, and their saved friends happy while no more being in a true, genuine relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ than Stephen Hawking, or Richard Dawkins.

I understand this. Because I lived this. I was one of them. Though not proclaiming I was saved as a child, but in my late teens.

I was raised in a very legalistic, strict, austere church environment. My parents joined that specific church when I was 5 years old. I grew up in the Sunday school classes, the youth group, the choir, and the multiple Sunday services and mid-week service.

And I endured a home life that few, if any would believe, unless they had lived it.  If I wrote it down factually you would be convinced I was a fiction writer and a liar.

I rebelled. I went out into the world. I experienced myriad in rapid succession events that were to my heart, my spirit, and my mind like repeated physical body and head blows delivered by Muhammed Ali in his prime.

I ended up bloodied and beaten, dazed and confused and returned home for a bit.

I thought…maybe if I can be a good person, do what I should, what is expected of me by my parents, by others, and I go back to church, I get involved [and there was a young woman in the picture at this time who was a member of my parents church that provided motivation] maybe if I read the Bible, go to church, and work to become a better person, a good person that people at church like instead of how they had been viewing me, maybe…?

And I did what was required.

I worked at being a good person. I thought I was a real Christian. I even joined that church.

Only to have even greater trials, hardships, and terrible events occur.

Wherein, I became more lost than ever.

Thinking, believing, due to the ingrained theology of that church, what my parents had drilled into my head since I was just a child, what certain relatives that belonged to that church drilled into my head for years — that as a result of my actions, I was doomed to burn in hell for eternity.

Seeing how with a series of events, which I have written about here long ago and will not enter into again, but due to a series of events I was excommunicated from that church at a very young age.

I was living over 2,300 miles from where I grew up. An outcast. My parents had nothing to do with me for 3 years. Would never even say “Hello,” when I called.

I had once thought I was saved. Because I grew up in a Christian church, albeit a very legalistic one, one that had constant inner turmoil and battles of cultures, but I grew up there, I attended there no fewer than 4 times a week! I read my Bible. I lived to be a good person. I worked at being a Christian.

And failed miserably. And then once kicked out of that church lived the next 35-plus years believing in my heart and mind without a doubt that no matter what — no matter what — I was doomed to burn in hell for eternity.

No hope for a sinner like me, right?

I mention this now, as it is timely because just earlier tonight, well actually last evening as now it’s the wee hours of Thursday morning, in the mid-week Bible study my wife and I attend, at the church we now have as our home church on Wednesday evening, the pastor, a solid Bible-preaching, Bible-teaching, Bible-believing, the whole Bible not adding to or omitting from pastor — we were studying Scripturally and discussing eternal security for the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I was once a believer that salvation could be lost.

I no longer believe that way.

Why? How?

Because on a winter night years ago now, after spending 35-plus years wandering in the abyss, certain of my pending eternity upon my death, after not holding or reading a Bible in decades, not ever praying to God, I was compelled in the middle of the night, while inches of snow was falling outside, to go downstairs and get a Bible from a bookshelf and go into my little office and read it again.

I prayed to God. A sincere, fervent, heartfelt prayer. Speaking to God what He already knew. Saying to Him I knew I was a condemned man, a sinner not deserving salvation or forgiveness, I only deserved condemnation and His wrath, but please Lord, please help me. Please help me!

And I opened the Bible in my lap and God’s Word opened to Luke 15 and my eyes were directed to begin reading at verse 11.

And that winter’s night, with inches of falling snow coming down outside, alone in my little office while my lovely wife slept in our bedroom my life changed for…eternity.

I know the difference between pretending, going through the motions, doing what is expected, what is considered right and necessary, saying the right things in front of people, and working daily to be a good person…but not truly being in Christ and having Christ in me…

…and the difference of being changed Supernaturally from within. A changed heart and mind, a changed way of thinking and seeing. Not of my doing — but of God’s doing! Of the Holy Spirit coming into me internally and eternally.

The beginning of sanctification. Of being a TRUE believer, an AUTHENTIC believer, a GENUINE believer having been BORN ANEW, BORN AGAIN, REGENERATED, and TRANSFORMED by the Supernatural power of the Spirit of God!

There is a difference.

Teach the children well in the ways of the Lord.

Do not put pressure on them to become SAVED!

You can’t do it. They can’t do it. You and no one else can save anyone, and no one can save themselves no matter who, no matter how hard they may try, what they attempt, no matter how good they imagine themselves to be.

Only Jesus saves, only God saves, only the Holy Spirit saves.

Teach the children well. Instill in them the Word of God as it is written.

And allow Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit to work in them.

I thank God daily, nightly for being patient with me and drawing me to Him and opening my mind, my eyes, my ears, my heart to hear Him, see Him, know Him, to be truly saved by Him, and to follow Him as His disciple.

Really. Truly. Genuinely. Eternally.

And there is a difference.

It is the difference between eternal life and imagining eternal life.

Of being with Christ, in Christ, and Christ with me and in me. And not having that relationship and understanding, thus living accordingly and no longer TRYING TO BE A GOOD PERSON, but putting all faith and trust in the Lord knowing He changed me from within forever. Forever!

Of seeing and knowing so clearly and differently than the day prior to my opening and reading the Word of God that snowy winter night now about 15 years ago…

…because God came to earth fully truly God, fully truly man, and He sacrificed Himself and died FOR ME, for sinners LIKE ME.

Don’t get hung up on the verbiage, the words. Get clear regarding the fate of your eternal spirit and soul. And then seek the Lord, hear the Lord, submit and accept the Lord and His Word. Repent and rejoice! Be renewed of mind, of spirit, and from within to be born into a new life!

In Christ and Christ in you! Sinner!

Ken Pullen, Thursday, October 19th, 2023

A Sinner “Like Me”

What message are we conveying to ourselves and others when we say “like me”?

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

By Jennifer Nanney

Reprinted from The Stand

I was listening to American Family Radio several years ago when I heard a young man speaking about growing up as a missionary kid. He said he honestly believed he had been saved as a child, but as he grew up, he didn’t really walk with Jesus; he lived something of a double life.

That may be correct. This young man may genuinely have been saved as a child. After all, Matthew 18:3-4 says, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” But I can tell you from my personal experience and from years of observing my own children and others … many childhood “salvation experiences” may not be authentic.

It may be the VBS group action (peer pressure?) in response to a leader saying, “Please raise your hand if you want to be saved.” It could be the fearful reaction to a sermon about the reality of Hell. Or maybe it is the desire to go to Heaven after the death of a godly loved one. But whatever the reason, many children who make professions of faith do not actually submit their lives to the lordship of Christ. They simply say some words and get wet.

Unfortunately, that is a common occurrence among kids who grow up in the church.

As the young man on the radio continued with his testimony, he said a phrase that I have heard and uttered numerous times myself: “Jesus died for sinners like me.” For some reason, as I listened that day, those two little words at the end – “like me” – hit me with a new realization.

If I know a person who is truly kind and giving and simply loves serving people “like me,” does that mean that I have personally been affected and impacted by that person’s acts of service?

Or if I said I had given millions of dollars to people “like you” (TOTALLY a fictional proposition!), has that money specifically paid any of your bills or bought you a meal?

And here is the one that really made me think: If your spouse says that he/she loves someone “like you,” how are you going to react? I mean, if my husband said that to me, I would want to know the name of that person who is “like me” that he actually loves! That would probably not be a very romantic or loving conversation!

I know that seems a little silly … but think about the implications when you put it into the context of Jesus dying for sinners “like me.”

What do we mean by this saying? As I mentioned, I have used it too many times to remember, and it was always my intention to include myself as one of the many sinners that Jesus died to save. But what came to mind when I heard those words on that day was, have we employed this phrase as a device to distance ourselves from the price that Jesus paid on the cross?

When we say that Jesus died for “sinners like me,” maybe it becomes a little easier to think about the sacrifice He made without taking responsibility for it. If Jesus died for folks “like” me, then I don’t have to look at the part I played in putting Him on that cross. If He died for “sinners like me,” then I may not actually be responsible – and maybe I am not really all that bad either.

I think we have so many church-going children who grow up to be unsaved adults because they never got “lost enough” to see their desperate need for a Savior – specifically Jesus. These kids know the Sunday School answers to Bible questions. A lot of them participate in Bible drills. They are involved in every department or youth group event – mission trip, discipleship group, choir … Whatever is happening, they are in the middle of it. As a general rule, they don’t steal … they don’t lie … they don’t smart off to their parents (at least, not much anyway) … they don’t smoke, drink, or swear … You know, they are simply good kids!

But you know what the Bible says about how good we humans are, don’t you?

The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. (Psalm 14:2-3, ESV)

Being a good kid (or adult, for that matter) is not enough; being obedient to your parents is not enough; standing up for the bullied, making good grades, driving the speed limit, going to church every time the doors are open, giving 50% of every dime you make, reading the Bible for two hours every day and praying for three hours every single day, walking an aisle and getting baptized – none of that is enough! Nothing you can do will merit salvation and nothing you can do will make you good enough to reach heaven!

The only thing that will make a way for any person to gain entrance into heaven is to confess Jesus Christ as Lord and to accept that His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary is the only payment sufficient to cover the penalty of sin.

But before we can fully accept that truth, we must recognize our own sinfulness and our personal need for the salvation Jesus offers through the sacrifice He paid. That is the only way we can be saved; it is the only way anyone can be saved – including our “good” church kids. When people truly come to realize their lost condition and embrace Jesus as Savior, they will do many of the good works I mentioned earlier – but not in the futile attempt to be “good enough.” Instead, it will be the outgrowth of their love for Jesus, their gratitude for the sacrifice He made, and their desire to follow Him.

So I think we should just lose that single word “like” when we are talking about salvation. We cannot distance ourselves from the fact that Jesus died because of the sinfulness of man in general, and we cannot distance ourselves from the fact that each person’s sin required the death of a blameless, perfect sacrifice.

I got baptized when I was in first grade, but I did not realize I was lost until I was 15 years old. How about you? Have you been lost enough yet to need Jesus?

Understand that Jesus died not just for someone like me or someone like you. Jesus died for me! And Jesus died for you! I pray that you are following Him.

If not, will you surrender your life to Him? He has already done the hardest part.