What is a Testimony?

1/20/2019

A discussion recently brought up a supposed testimony of salvation which was “found wanting.” Which means one could say words, others would hear it, even commiserate with it, but go away questioning, “was this really a testimony of being saved?” So, let’s examine what is in a true testimony of one being saved.

Becoming saved means a person goes from being lost, being without hope, unto an eternal life with God. Getting lost comes about when in the course of a person’s life, they see their own inadequacies, they come to realize they can’t figure out how to not do wrong things, and they know they need some intervention to gain the peace they desperately require.

More commonly, it would be stated like this: they see themselves a sinner, they know they are lost, and they want to be saved. If this person might never have heard of Jesus Christ and His Father in Heaven, they might well seek peace and safety in an even more perilous place than where they are.

But, if when they see themselves lost, they hear or remember that “Christ died for their sins,” then they are on the right track for gaining eternal life. When that person sees themselves lost, they inherently already know they cannot perform this themselves. The next thing which has to happen is to get themselves out of the “working” picture, they give up and allow Christ to save them.

They might say or do something, but if they say or do something believing that is part of their salvation, they are mistaken. What someone “does” in the moment of being saved is not a part of salvation. Getting saved is what is done for you! 

example: When Paul and Silas were in prison, and the jailer said to them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They never instructed him in the ways of the Lord, they never had him sign anything, never had him kneel and/or beg God, not so much as cry aloud: they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

So, then the saved person has a seal upon him, he now “belongs” to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, he can learn “..how that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised again the third day.” Now, he can understand that Christ was “delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification.” Now, he can see why this means he belongs to Christ and that Christ “knows him.” 

If the lost man sets out to understand all these things before deciding, “well, yes, I believe Christ is trustworthy,” he has set himself up as the intercessor to his own salvation. [There are many testimonies given which say “after all I’d learned, been schooled by, etc., I finally gave up and trusted Christ as my Savior.”] That’s salvation. It’s a moment, it’s what He did, not what we do. Whether one knows a lot or very little is irrelevant. It is a moment of trust—from no hope, to great hope, and nothing you did except give up.

So, comes time to testify to God’s mercy and grace, which story do you tell? If you want to testify to saving grace of God, you need not tell how much of a sinner you were, you need not give the detail of what got you to the lowest of lows, you need to let it be known above all —that “I gave up and trusted the Lord.”

Yes, when we give our testimony we tell “our story.” That’s ok, it is a part of what got you here. But, is it a testimony unto the grace of God, not unto your activity or words used to get that fulfilled? Then, tell how Christ is your Savior, Christ paid the price, Christ is our everlasting hope!!

So, a celebrity tells you how “God” helped him get sober, or how “he/she found God”—those are not testimonies at all. If the elements of salvation are not clearly credited to the One who bought them, it is not a testimony, it is bragging on themselves. How it makes the listener feel isn’t the issue. Whether it makes a saved person want to say “amen!” to it is a better indication of true testimony.

Ingredients in a testimony:

I was laden down with who and what I am.                                                   I was unable to help myself.                                                                           I believed Christ was the only answer.                                                           I trusted Him for my salvation.                                                                        I have peacefulness. I am saved.

Thanks for reading, the Elder