Hướng Đi Ministries
For Hindus, salvation means that:
• The soul is set free from its many “transmigration” to other bodies. ( )
• God forgives our guilt for ever. ( )
Hindus believe that being saved is escaping from what is material. They believe that they can escape from the circle of the many lives lived successively in different bodies. It they practice their religion well, seeking what is spiritual, they are born in another reincarnation in asuperior caste, until at last they escape completely, becoming pure spirit.
EIGHTH MISUNDERSTOOD WORDS: “BORN AGAIN”
The Hindus’ aim is to escape from the circle of reincarnations. They don’t want to be born again: they want to stop being born altogether. It is better not to use the phrase “born again”, but rather say something like “be forgiven and become a child of God”. We could use Ezekiel 36:25-27 to describe what becoming a new person in Jesus means: we are washed clean from our sins (v.25); God give us a new heart – we become a new person (v.26); we are filled with the Holy Spirit who enables us to please God and keep His commandments (v.27). Another useful passage is Titus 3:4-7 which emphasizes the corrupt nature of man’s heart and how we become a child of God.
– If I don’t practice my religion properly, I’ll be born again as an ant, a toad or a snake. I’d have to go on ascending again little by little, being born as a cat or a sheep. The monkeys and mice are the most sacred; we build temples for them. Dogs are inferior, worse than insects. I don’t kill insects or eat meat – I could be killing my relatives. A butterfly or a chicken could be my grandmother.
Be careful when using the word “salvation”. For Hindus, it means to escape:
• From one’s body and be absorbed in the Absolute. ( )
• From the just condemnation of God. ( )
Being saved, according to Hindus, means escaping from what is physical, to become pure spirit. Then one dos not continue to be born thousands of times in different bodies. According to them, the soul is like a drop of water that falls in the sea: it unites with everything that is. It not longer has to undergo the transmigration to another bodies. If we speak about salvation in Christ, they think that He help us, by our good works, to break the circle of having to die and be “reincarnated” in another body. They need a lot of patient explanation.
THE GOSPEL REACHES HIS HEART
Having formed a friendship, we bind Satan and anything contrary to the Holy Spirit with our prayers, and patiently explain the Gospel.
– Have you read the New Testament I lent you?
– Yes. I really like what it says about fasting. And about taking up the cross. But I can’t read it now: my eldest son is very ill.
The Christian goes with his friend to his house to pray for his son..
– Heavenly Father, in the almighty Name of Jesus Christ. I ask you to heal this boy
Later, the Hindu comes to Christian’s house:
– Jesus Christ has healed my son! Now I know that he forgives sins too. He has more power than my gods. I now abandon them, and follow Jesus Christ.
The Previous Article:
https://huongdionline.com/2016/06/17/hindus-readily-accept-galatians-6-7/
