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Are You Saved?
- 03/21/10
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Scotty Smith recently moved his blog to the Gospel Coalition web site. I’ve long regarded his site as a bit of a hidden treasure but I suppose it’s now less so having moved to a more public location. Nevertheless, his most recent prayer caught my eye as, through it, he reflects on a simple question. This is a worthwhile prayer for any of us, I think.
Dear Lord Jesus, driving into my home state recently, I came upon a billboard that pushed some buttons before it raised my palms. Just through the mountains of North Carolina, there is was, bold and in big red letters, Are You Saved? I’ll be honest, my first response was, “What an un-cool, cost-ineffective, out-of-date, impersonal way to do evangelism.” Then I ruminated, “People that put up highway signs like that are clueless about the gospel. They’re usually legalists and moralists, and have no idea about a theology of imputed righteousness. They’re culturally out-of-touch and don’t realize what a turn-off that kind of signage is.”
But after my momentary-arrogance and billboard-pontification, your Spirit gently disrupted my “cool” with this thought, “You completely avoided the question, Are You Saved?”
I continued driving, but that’s when one palm went up anyway, for indeed, I am saved, Jesus, unabashedly and unashamedly so. And there’s only one reason and there’s only one basis… I have come to God through you. You are the permanent priest who offered the perfect sacrifice for me, once and for all. You completed your work on the cross and you will complete your work in me. You live forever and you forever live to thoroughly save me, and your whole pan-national trans-generational Bride. You were my substitute by your life and your death, and now you’re my righteousness and intercessor before the Father. Am I saved? Most definitely and most delightfully!
I don’t have to like highway billboards, but may I never ever tire of responding to the question, Are You Saved?, for there’s no question more humbling to me and honoring of you. So very Amen, I pray, Jesus, in your merciful and mighty-to-save name.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I write books and blogs for fun while doing web design and consulting for a living. I worship and serve at 
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Comments (5)
Thanks for linking to this great post, Tim.
Man, that is awesome. I wish I could pray like that. Lately when I go to pray I just am at a loss for words. Anyways, great post. There is much richness out there to be found.
Scotty Smith’s prayers are a contemporary version of the Valley of Vision prayers of yesteryear…Christ-centered and God-exalting. Love ‘em!
Great billboard. Makes people think about the most important question they will ever be asked. Thanks for posting Tim.
Thanks, Tim, and thanks to Scotty. I had grown tired of that overt style of evangelism, and was more focused on “whole life/Christian worldview” discipleship. But then I read Christless Christianity from Michael Horton and that has changed my view. The pendulum has swung too far to the other side now in most churches and Christian communities that we don’t even talk about being saved or lost anymore. We talk instead about serving, about being followers of Jesus, but we skip the most important part of our Christian faith - that Jesus died for our sins to save us. We need to be reminded of that every week. Though I like my local church, I suspect a person could go there for twenty years without ever being confronted with the question, “Are you saved?”