bestcurrentnews 2023 Ramadan Prayer

Salvation

In Acts 4, Peter and John were arrested and brought before the high priest and other leaders for preaching about Jesus and his resurrection after healing a man who had been lame since birth. Despite being threatened and ordered not to speak about Jesus, Peter boldly claimed, “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed…Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:10;12).

Romans 10:9-10 says, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.” 

The Bible tells us that God desires that all men be saved (1 Timothy 2:4) and that salvation is a gift. We cannot earn it. (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is clear that salvation comes only through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Qur’an states, “And if Allah had willed, He could have made you [of] one religion, but He causes to stray whom He wills and guides whom He wills” (Sura 16:93).

Muslims do not believe Jesus died on the cross, so they do not believe in the resurrection. They believe Allah took Jesus to paradise. “Jesus son of Mary, Allah’s messenger’ they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them…But Allah took him up unto Himself” (Sura 4:157-158). The Islamic version of Jesus returns to the earth, but his purpose is to establish Islam as the only religion in the world. Many Muslims believe this means that Jesus will punish Christians and Jews for not accepting Muhammad as the prophet of Allah (Al-Bukhari Volume 3, Hadith 425).

Islam is a religion of works. “And those whose scales are heavy [with good deeds] – it is they who are the successful. But those whose scales are light – those are the ones who have lost their souls, [being] in hell, abiding eternally” (sura 23:102–103). Muslims believe two recording angels record all of a person’s good deeds and intentions throughout their lives. 

Islam has no Savior. Allah is said to have brought his laws to men, and Muslims, by keeping those laws, must satisfy Allah’s requirements and win Allah’s approval. A Muslim does not know whether he will go to paradise or hell. The arbitrary will of Allah makes the decision, and no one can predict what that decision will be.

PRAYER POINT

Continue to pray that during this holy week that multitudes will be presented with the truth of the gospel and, for the first time, have the courage to receive Jesus! A recent video was shared by a Christian broadcaster who was discussing with a Muslim man the difference between Jesus and Allah, and the Christian told the man to look up particular scriptures where Jesus told of His love for mankind and that He (John 14:1-3) was preparing a place for each person, all the Muslim needed to do was receive the free gift of Christ. As the Muslim man read the scripture, the love of Christ visibly touched his heart, and he immediately responded and received Jesus into his heart.

bestcurrentnews 2023 Ramadan Prayer

Core Message

The Bible states, “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:2-4). 

The sacrificial death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is the core message of Christianity. In Islam, however, Muslims do not believe Jesus was crucified. The Qur’an says, “And [for] their saying, ‘Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.’ And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain” (Sura 4:157).

There are several explanations of the crucifixion of Christ in Islam. These include:

  1. People saw an illusion of Jesus being crucified, but the event never happened.
  2. Someone else was substituted for Jesus. Islam teaches that Jesus was a prophet, but that Jesus did not die on the cross, because Muslims do not believe a prophet of Islam can be killed in such a terrible way as crucifixion. Many Muslims believe Judas or Simon of Cyrene actually died on the cross, not Jesus.
  3. Jesus was crucified, but did not die, he fainted. 

The Biblical account of Jesus’ death is clear. Jesus said that he would be killed (Matthew 16:21; 20:17-19, 20:28). Each of the gospels describe the crucifixion (Matthew 27:34-35; Mark 15:22-24; Luke 23:32-33; John 16:19-20). In addition, the crucifixion and death of Jesus are spoken of throughout the New Testament (Acts 2:23-24; Romans 5:6; 1 Corinthians 1:23; Hebrews 2:9; 1 John 2:2; 4:10). 

Since Islam denies the crucifixion of Christ, they also deny the resurrection of Christ. 

PRAYER POINT

We enter this holy week by recognizing the death and burial of Jesus Christ and His resurrection from the dead on Sunday morning. As Christians, we celebrate all our Lord Jesus has done for us. Pray for the Muslim community; that they will desire to see and understand what His death on the cross truly means. Ask God to bring people across their path to share the gospel of Christ or have them tune in to a video, a story, or something that will give them the actual truth of what has happened because of the cross of Christ, opening their eyes and hearts to the One who is Truth.