The Pen is Mightier than the Sword
Something Was Missing
A conversation between the three D’s—David, Daniel and Doreen
A conversation between the three D’s—David, Daniel and Doreen
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DAVID: It’s very nice to see you both, but I’m a little bit concerned. When you telephoned and asked to see me, you sounded troubled. I was thrilled when I heard you’d got engaged, you seem so right for each other, so I do hope you’re not having second thoughts about getting married. The wedding’s still on, isn’t it?
DANIEL: Oh, yes, it’s nothing to do with that.
DOREEN: Well, not directly, it isn’t.
DAVID: I don’t understand.
DANIEL: I know what Doreen means. It didn’t really bother us until we got engaged. We’ve been attending church for years, Doreen since she was a little girl and me for about five years. That’s how we met, at the youth club. Then we got engaged.
DAVID: You seem to be talking in riddles, David. What exactly is bothering you since your engagement?
DOREEN: Shall I explain?
DAVID: I wish someone would!
DOREEN: It’s like Daniel said, we’ve been coming to church for years, but it wasn’t until we got engaged that we realised something was missing from our relationship. We know we’re together physically, and by that I mean we spend time together, we do things together, we go places together, we come to church together, yet there was still something not quite right.
DANIEL: We talked about it, then we realised what it was. We were together physically but we were not together spiritually. Everybody we know looks upon us a Christian couple, but we’re not so sure ourselves. I know we come to church regularly and take part in most things, but it didn’t seem to bother us until we got engaged, so we thought we ought to do something about it.
DOREEN: Then it came to us. It was something you said in one of your sermons one Sunday morning about the importance of Bible reading for Christians, and especially for couples. That’s when we started reading the Bible seriously together in the hope that it would bring us together spiritually.
DAVID: And did it?
DOREEN: Not exactly.
DANIEL: To be honest, it caused us even more problems. That’s why we wanted to come and see you. As our pastor we were sure you would know all the answers.
DAVID: You flatter\me. Not even pastors know all the answers. I certainly don’t. But I’ll do my best. Perhaps you would like to explain to me exactly what is troubling you.
DANIEL: It’s like I said before, people think of us as a Christian couple, more so now we’re engaged, but we had our doubts. Then we came to a verse in the Bible that really troubled us. It caused us to doubt even more.
DOREEN: It frightened me.
DAVID: What verse are we talking about? I’ve got my Bible right here beside me, so we can look it up together.
DANIEL: I wrote it down. It’s from the book of Romans, chapter three and verse twenty-three. You see, we’ve been trying to read through the book of Romans together, but we’re finding it hard going.
DAVID: You would. It’s not the best book to begin with when you start reading the Bible seriously. You’d be better starting with one of the Gospels, Mark, for example. Romans is what we might call a deeply theological book containing some very important teaching about the Christian faith, so it would be better to come to it after you’ve become more familiar with other more simpler parts of the Bible. Anyway, I’ve found the verse that’s troubling you. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
DOREEN: That’s it. We’re all sinners. We’ve got no hope. How can we? But what puzzles me is, why do I feel so guilty? Reading the Bible has made me feel worse.
DAVID: And how do you feel, Daniel?
DANIEL: The same, really. I am more confused than ever now. I thought reading the Bible together would bring us together spiritually. Mind you, it hasn’t affected our relationship. We’re not thinking of splitting up, or anything like that, but it does trouble us to think we’re a couple of sinners with no hope. It doesn’t help to bring us together spiritually, does it?
DAVID: Not if you were a couple of sinners with no hope, that’s true, but you’re not!
DOREEN: Not what?
DAVID: Sinners with no hope. Anyway, your confusion and worry is teaching us a very valuable lesson about Bible reading, quite apart from the matter that’s troubling you.
DANIEL: How come?
DAVID: It teaches us that we should never read a verse in isolation and try to establish a truth from it. It’s a dangerous practice to take a verse out of its context, as we preachers say.
DOREEN: By context you mean the other verses surrounding it, is that what you mean?
DAVID: Exactly what I mean! Now, I’m going to make matters worse for you before I make them better. We have realised from our verse that we are all sinners, there is no escaping that fact, and if we move on in the book of Romans to chapter six, verse twenty-three, we read, “The wages of sin is death.” So not only do we appear to have no hope, but we are condemned to death as well.
DOREEN: Can it get any worse?
DAVID: Yes, if the Bible stopped there. We’d all end up in hell.
DANIEL: A nice thought, I don’t think!
DAVID: I said it would get better, Daniel, so take heart. If we turn back to chapter five and verse eight, still in the book of Romans, you’ll see what I mean. This is a very important verse, so take careful note. “But God demonstrated his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Do you see what had happened?
DANIEL: I think so. You’d better stop me if I get it wrong. I’m a sinner, and because I’m a sinner I’m going to die.”
DOREEN: Hold on, I don’t get it. We’re all going to die sometime whether we’re sinners or not.
DAVID: That’s true if you are talking about physical death, but the death referred to here is spiritual death.
DOREEN: What’s the difference?
DAVID: Physical death is the separation of our soul from our body—it is only the body that dies. Spiritual death is the separation of our soul from God in hell. Now, let’s not interrupt Daniel any more, I want to hear what he’s going to say.
DANIEL: Like I said, because I’m a sinner I’m going to die and go to hell. If I read this verse correctly, even though I’m a sinner I don’t have to die because Jesus Christ died for me.
DAVID: Very good, Daniel, as far as it goes.
DOREEN: Sorry to interrupt again, but how can Jesus dying prevent me from dying?
DAVID: Notice, I said to Daniel, as far as it goes. We need to go back to chapter six, verse twenty-three, there you will have your answer. We didn’t complete the verse before. See what it says, “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Now we are ready to put it all together and it should stop you from being confused and worried.
DANIEL: I hope so.
DAVID: I’m sure it will. Why simply reading the Bible has not brought you together spiritually, and has even upset you, is because reading in itself is not enough, you have to obey what it says as well. You have both discovered that you are sinners in need of salvation, because your sins have earned you spiritual death in hell. That’s why the Bible uses the phrase, “the wages of sin.” But God loves all sinners, He only hates their sin, and because He loves us so much, He sent His Son, Jesus, to die in our place. As a result, instead of wages God is now offering us a gift—the gift of eternal life, which is the opposite of spiritual death. So, you see, you don’t have to worry or be confused, nor do you have to be condemned to death in hell.
DOREEN: But I’m still a bit confused. How can we be sure we’ve got this gift?
DAVID: Do you remember what I said about reading the Bible in itself is not enough, you also have to obey it? Here is your answer. I could quote you many verses in the Bible to emphasise this, but we will stick with these three from Romans for the moment. The reason why you have not felt you are together spiritually is because you’re not! You ask, how can you be sure you’ve got this gift? The answer is really quite simple, have you accepted this gift?
DANIEL: In what way?
DAVID: Look at the verses again. What do they tell us? First, we are all sinners. Secondly, because we are sinners we have earned as wages spiritual death in hell. Thirdly, because God loves all sinners and wants to save them from hell, He sent His Son, Jesus, to die in our place—to receive the wages that are rightly ours—while we are still sinners. And finally, because Jesus has paid the price with His death, God is now able to offer us the gift of eternal life, but notice the important words, “in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This means, only through accepting Jesus as our Saviour can we receive this gift of eternal life.
DOREEN: What can we do about it?
DAVID: Of yourselves, nothing. God has done it all for us. I know from your confusion and fears that neither of you have accepted Jesus as your Saviour and Lord, and that is why you are not together spiritually. To be certain of your spiritual future together, accept the gift of eternal life God is offering you by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour—He alone can give you this gift. Shall we pray together now and ask the Lord to forgive you of your sins and to come into your lives for ever?
DANIEL: Yes, please.
DOREEN: I knew something was missing, now I know what it was.
DANIEL: Oh, yes, it’s nothing to do with that.
DOREEN: Well, not directly, it isn’t.
DAVID: I don’t understand.
DANIEL: I know what Doreen means. It didn’t really bother us until we got engaged. We’ve been attending church for years, Doreen since she was a little girl and me for about five years. That’s how we met, at the youth club. Then we got engaged.
DAVID: You seem to be talking in riddles, David. What exactly is bothering you since your engagement?
DOREEN: Shall I explain?
DAVID: I wish someone would!
DOREEN: It’s like Daniel said, we’ve been coming to church for years, but it wasn’t until we got engaged that we realised something was missing from our relationship. We know we’re together physically, and by that I mean we spend time together, we do things together, we go places together, we come to church together, yet there was still something not quite right.
DANIEL: We talked about it, then we realised what it was. We were together physically but we were not together spiritually. Everybody we know looks upon us a Christian couple, but we’re not so sure ourselves. I know we come to church regularly and take part in most things, but it didn’t seem to bother us until we got engaged, so we thought we ought to do something about it.
DOREEN: Then it came to us. It was something you said in one of your sermons one Sunday morning about the importance of Bible reading for Christians, and especially for couples. That’s when we started reading the Bible seriously together in the hope that it would bring us together spiritually.
DAVID: And did it?
DOREEN: Not exactly.
DANIEL: To be honest, it caused us even more problems. That’s why we wanted to come and see you. As our pastor we were sure you would know all the answers.
DAVID: You flatter\me. Not even pastors know all the answers. I certainly don’t. But I’ll do my best. Perhaps you would like to explain to me exactly what is troubling you.
DANIEL: It’s like I said before, people think of us as a Christian couple, more so now we’re engaged, but we had our doubts. Then we came to a verse in the Bible that really troubled us. It caused us to doubt even more.
DOREEN: It frightened me.
DAVID: What verse are we talking about? I’ve got my Bible right here beside me, so we can look it up together.
DANIEL: I wrote it down. It’s from the book of Romans, chapter three and verse twenty-three. You see, we’ve been trying to read through the book of Romans together, but we’re finding it hard going.
DAVID: You would. It’s not the best book to begin with when you start reading the Bible seriously. You’d be better starting with one of the Gospels, Mark, for example. Romans is what we might call a deeply theological book containing some very important teaching about the Christian faith, so it would be better to come to it after you’ve become more familiar with other more simpler parts of the Bible. Anyway, I’ve found the verse that’s troubling you. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
DOREEN: That’s it. We’re all sinners. We’ve got no hope. How can we? But what puzzles me is, why do I feel so guilty? Reading the Bible has made me feel worse.
DAVID: And how do you feel, Daniel?
DANIEL: The same, really. I am more confused than ever now. I thought reading the Bible together would bring us together spiritually. Mind you, it hasn’t affected our relationship. We’re not thinking of splitting up, or anything like that, but it does trouble us to think we’re a couple of sinners with no hope. It doesn’t help to bring us together spiritually, does it?
DAVID: Not if you were a couple of sinners with no hope, that’s true, but you’re not!
DOREEN: Not what?
DAVID: Sinners with no hope. Anyway, your confusion and worry is teaching us a very valuable lesson about Bible reading, quite apart from the matter that’s troubling you.
DANIEL: How come?
DAVID: It teaches us that we should never read a verse in isolation and try to establish a truth from it. It’s a dangerous practice to take a verse out of its context, as we preachers say.
DOREEN: By context you mean the other verses surrounding it, is that what you mean?
DAVID: Exactly what I mean! Now, I’m going to make matters worse for you before I make them better. We have realised from our verse that we are all sinners, there is no escaping that fact, and if we move on in the book of Romans to chapter six, verse twenty-three, we read, “The wages of sin is death.” So not only do we appear to have no hope, but we are condemned to death as well.
DOREEN: Can it get any worse?
DAVID: Yes, if the Bible stopped there. We’d all end up in hell.
DANIEL: A nice thought, I don’t think!
DAVID: I said it would get better, Daniel, so take heart. If we turn back to chapter five and verse eight, still in the book of Romans, you’ll see what I mean. This is a very important verse, so take careful note. “But God demonstrated his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Do you see what had happened?
DANIEL: I think so. You’d better stop me if I get it wrong. I’m a sinner, and because I’m a sinner I’m going to die.”
DOREEN: Hold on, I don’t get it. We’re all going to die sometime whether we’re sinners or not.
DAVID: That’s true if you are talking about physical death, but the death referred to here is spiritual death.
DOREEN: What’s the difference?
DAVID: Physical death is the separation of our soul from our body—it is only the body that dies. Spiritual death is the separation of our soul from God in hell. Now, let’s not interrupt Daniel any more, I want to hear what he’s going to say.
DANIEL: Like I said, because I’m a sinner I’m going to die and go to hell. If I read this verse correctly, even though I’m a sinner I don’t have to die because Jesus Christ died for me.
DAVID: Very good, Daniel, as far as it goes.
DOREEN: Sorry to interrupt again, but how can Jesus dying prevent me from dying?
DAVID: Notice, I said to Daniel, as far as it goes. We need to go back to chapter six, verse twenty-three, there you will have your answer. We didn’t complete the verse before. See what it says, “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Now we are ready to put it all together and it should stop you from being confused and worried.
DANIEL: I hope so.
DAVID: I’m sure it will. Why simply reading the Bible has not brought you together spiritually, and has even upset you, is because reading in itself is not enough, you have to obey what it says as well. You have both discovered that you are sinners in need of salvation, because your sins have earned you spiritual death in hell. That’s why the Bible uses the phrase, “the wages of sin.” But God loves all sinners, He only hates their sin, and because He loves us so much, He sent His Son, Jesus, to die in our place. As a result, instead of wages God is now offering us a gift—the gift of eternal life, which is the opposite of spiritual death. So, you see, you don’t have to worry or be confused, nor do you have to be condemned to death in hell.
DOREEN: But I’m still a bit confused. How can we be sure we’ve got this gift?
DAVID: Do you remember what I said about reading the Bible in itself is not enough, you also have to obey it? Here is your answer. I could quote you many verses in the Bible to emphasise this, but we will stick with these three from Romans for the moment. The reason why you have not felt you are together spiritually is because you’re not! You ask, how can you be sure you’ve got this gift? The answer is really quite simple, have you accepted this gift?
DANIEL: In what way?
DAVID: Look at the verses again. What do they tell us? First, we are all sinners. Secondly, because we are sinners we have earned as wages spiritual death in hell. Thirdly, because God loves all sinners and wants to save them from hell, He sent His Son, Jesus, to die in our place—to receive the wages that are rightly ours—while we are still sinners. And finally, because Jesus has paid the price with His death, God is now able to offer us the gift of eternal life, but notice the important words, “in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This means, only through accepting Jesus as our Saviour can we receive this gift of eternal life.
DOREEN: What can we do about it?
DAVID: Of yourselves, nothing. God has done it all for us. I know from your confusion and fears that neither of you have accepted Jesus as your Saviour and Lord, and that is why you are not together spiritually. To be certain of your spiritual future together, accept the gift of eternal life God is offering you by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour—He alone can give you this gift. Shall we pray together now and ask the Lord to forgive you of your sins and to come into your lives for ever?
DANIEL: Yes, please.
DOREEN: I knew something was missing, now I know what it was.
© 2006 Denis A. Wheadon. All rights reserved. Website: http://www.Pen4God.co.uk. This document is the property of the Author and
must not be displayed on any other websites without permission. Copies may be downloaded and printed for personal use only. Any contact with
the writer or comments concerning an article, can be made by email addressed to: denis.wheadon@Pen4God.co.uk
must not be displayed on any other websites without permission. Copies may be downloaded and printed for personal use only. Any contact with
the writer or comments concerning an article, can be made by email addressed to: denis.wheadon@Pen4God.co.uk
