The Four Spiritual Laws

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes". (Romans 1:16)

It was in the mid 1950's that the late Dr. Bill Bright founded Campus Crusade for Christ. He began by printing pamphlets or tracts that explained what he called "The four spiritual laws". Since that time there have been over 2.5 billion of those pamphlets printed. Even today the very simple and easy to understand message found within that tract is the number one tool used by Christians worldwide to present the gospel message. Through it's use millions of people have been led to commit their lives in faith to accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord. People can discuss religion all day long, and point to people in other places and other situations, but the statements and the questions in the four spiritual laws bring the focus directly to the individual. Most want to be right with God. Many work hard in various ways to be right with God. But the Holy Spirit testifies to each individual that they still come up short.

The first law says that God loves us, and that He has a wonderful plan for our lives. John 3:16 is quoted to show God's love, and John 10:10 is used to show that God wants us to have abundant life. Most people have this belief that God is love, but they really don't know what that means. Surprisingly, many even doubt that God can love them. All people desperately want God to love them, but the reason they doubt is their conscience (the Holy Spirit talking to the heart) has indicated to them that they have done things that God is not happy with. Deep down people want to feel accepted by God, and they want to know that their life has meaning.

The second law states that man is sinful and is separated from God, therefore he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life. Romans 3:23 is quoted telling us that everyone has sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God, and Romans 6:23 says that sin causes spiritual separation from God. Man was created to have fellowship with God, but our self will, putting our desires before God's desires, causes that separation. Understanding this is important because the number one belief in the world today is that if a person is good enough, if they do all the works their religion or personal philosophy demands, if they cancel out the negative by adding more of the positive, their lives will be in a positive position after death. They think that others have achieved this, and most feel that they themselves are basically a "good" person. And yet, if they are honest in looking at their own life, they know that they actually fit into the category of "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God".

The third law explains that there is only one way to bring man and God together. "Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life". The quote used from Romans 5:8 is great because, again contrary to what man normally thinks, he does not have to do things to make himself worthy to receive God's love. "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us". And to show that Jesus is more than just a great teacher or philosopher, scripture shows where Jesus testifies of Himself; "I am the way; and the truth, and the life. no one comes to the Father, but through Me". (John 14:8)

Finally we are instructed that it is not enough just to understand intellectually the first three spiritual laws. "We must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives". The pamphlet then explains that we receive Christ through faith, which leads to a new birth of our spirit which was separated from God. The first step in receiving Christ is to hear the invitation He makes to us. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears and opens the door, I will come in to him". (Revelation 3:20) I believe the Holy Spirit uses that scripture to bore directly through all the clutter and confusion in a person's life, direct to the heart, so that they really do hear this invitation.

The next step is to make a decision of the will to repent from past actions and attitudes dictated by our selfish desires. Again, it is not enough just to agree intellectually that Jesus is God's Son, and that He died on the cross for the sin of man. There still needs to be a desire to turn over the lordship of our own life to Jesus, so that He will be our Lord. And to believe as well that when Jesus died for sin, He died for our sin. We follow through on that desire by examining our conscience, asking God to bring to our mind anything that is in rebellion to Him. We then ask God to forgive us for those things. And we promise God that to the best of our ability we will now live for Him.

There still remains one more step for us to take. We have repented from our past actions, asking Him to be our Savior. We have told Him that we want Him to be the Lord of our life. Now we need to ask Him to come into our hearts, so that our spirit will become reborn. We do this by faith, not looking for a feeling or emotion. Faith is the trust we have to ask this, and our belief that He loves us, that He is trustworthy, and that He will do what He promised in His word. Confirmation may come with emotions for some, but the true gauge will be the resulting change in what we desire. We should then thank Him for forgiving our sins and for becoming the Lord of our life.

Other Christian groups have adapted this message successfully. When I was a Catholic, involved in Charismatic prayer meetings, there was a seven session teaching called "Life in the Spirit seminars", which was usually held before or after a weekly prayer meeting. Week 1 presented the first law that God loves us. Week 2 talked about the second law that man sins and falls short of the love of God. And week 3 gave the good news that man can be united with God through Jesus as Lord and Savior. Week 4 talked about what the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is, and was a preparation for week 5, which was devoted to praying for anyone wanting to receive the release of the Holy Spirit in their life. After each presentation a seminar would break down into smaller groups, each with a leader, to answer questions about the presentation. Between week 4 and 5 a leader would try to meet personally with each person to better answer any additional questions. Then week 5 began by leading each person individually in a short prayer of repentance, and asking in that same prayer that Jesus would be their Lord and Savior. It was only then that a person would be prayed for to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Weeks 6 and 7 were devoted to explaining the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, and how to live a balanced Christian life. I believe that for many Catholics, where salvation is not emphasized because of the belief that salvation comes at the sacrament of Baptism, the prayer at the start of week 5 became their rebirth experience.

Christianity is not religion. It is a relationship with God brought about because our spirits become reborn. One does not have to be taught a lot of theology to become a Christian. The message is simple, and the truth of the message is conveyed by the Holy Spirit to the heart of man. Faith comes by hearing the word of God. Scripture says, 'but how can they hear if there is no one to tell them?' If you have just read this, and have never surrendered your life to Jesus, now would be a good time.