It’s the gospel

I trust that your heart was as encouraged as mine over the last few weeks here at Grace Baptist Church. We enjoyed a wonderful month of October here in our ministry. Each year, we set aside the month of October as our Missions Emphasis Month, and our guest speakers for this year provided us with tremendous motivation as they challenged our church from God’s word. The needs on the mission field are growing by the minute, and the laborers are increasingly few. I pray your heart was stirred, as mine was, as you listened to the massive needs facing the world.

Missions month concluded with an incredible concert with Keith and Kristyn Getty. Of course, having Matt Papa joining the Gettys added even more excitement to the evening. Throughout the course of October, through the ministry of the missionaries and Gettys, I was reminded of the importance of keeping the gospel at the center of our lives. All of our missionaries shared the impact the gospel is having all over the globe. We heard how the gospel is changing lives in Ukraine, Poland, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The Gettys punctuated the importance of the gospel through their Christ-centered music.

As we think about the centrality of the gospel’s message, and its impact on the world, we need to keep four powerful truths in mind.

First, the gospel of Jesus Christ is still convicting people of their sin. Through the power of preaching, people all over the globe are being lovingly confronted with their sin. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 10:14-15, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” Too often, we believe it’s our airtight arguments that convict people of their sinfulness. But in reality, only exposure to God’s truth can bring people under conviction. God uses His perfect and eternal word to convict people of their sin through the working of the Holy Spirit. As Christians, our job is not to convict people, it is to faithfully share the gospel in love, and allow God’s Holy Spirit to do the convicting. Because we never spiritually outgrow sin, this convicting ministry of Scripture and the Holy Spirit applies to both Christians and non-Christians alike. All praise be to God that He is still calling people to repentance through the wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ.

Second, only the gospel of Jesus Christ can save people from their sins. We may erroneously believe it is loving to not share the gospel with others. After all, we do not want to offend people. Please understand, too often Christians are offensive in how they present the gospel. In the name of Christ, some believers are demeaning and condescending when they share God’s wonderful truth with others. To be clear, being harsh and mean-spirited is the wrong approach. As the church, we are called to share the truth in love. But in reality, it’s unloving to not share what Scripture teaches about sin, the world, Satan, and redemption. When we fail to share the gospel in a loving and compassionate manner, we are demonstrating that the person we love the most is ourselves. Preferring to be comfortable, accepted, and free from conflict, we do not risk being uncomfortable, rejected, or insulted. As a result, we remain quiet. All the while, we claim to believe John 14:6 where Jesus claims to be the only way to Heaven, the source of absolute truth, and the only means through which eternal life is possible. Only Jesus can save people from their sin. It is the God-ordained responsibility of the church to proclaim the gospel message to all the world.

Third, the gospel of Jesus Christ determines what is morally right and wrong. Sin is so deceptive, people will come up with all kinds of creative excuses and hermeneutical gymnastics to manipulate Scripture to say whatever they desperately wish the Bible taught. Admittedly, there are passages of Scripture that are challenging to understand, and there are some that godly people disagree over. But let’s be honest, concerning the moral issues that our world is fighting over, God’s word is clear. Painfully clear. The only way around the truth is to make excuses and twist Scripture by ripping verses out of their context. Please, please, please, hear me: all people, no matter how evil, are created in the image of almighty God and are deserving of love and respect. While we as Christians stand for only one way to Heaven through faith in Christ, the reality of two genders (male and female), marriage between one man and one woman for a lifetime, the sanctity of human life, and parental authority, we do not have the right to speak these truths angrily, cruelly, or disrespectfully – particularly on social media. Loving your neighbor as Jesus commanded means speaking the gospel in a kind, loving, and respectful manner (see Ephesians 4:15-25). Christian, you have no right to treat people created in the image of God with hateful disdain. In fact, doing so is equally sinful to whatever sin you are confronting. Sounds… well, Pharisaical to me.

Fourth, the gospel of Jesus sets people free from sin. Under the influence of Satan’s lies and deception, our world is convinced that the way to freedom comes from living an autonomous life where the only boundaries are the ones the individual determines are right for him or her. But as Paul teaches in the book of Romans, those who are trapped in the clutches of sin are slaves to their sin (see Romans 6:12-23). According to Jesus in John 8:31-32 freedom is found in obeying God’s truth. Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Mankind, outside of Christ, is spiritually dead and enslaved to their sinful nature (see Ephesians 2:1-9). Because of the life-destroying nature of sin and the slavery it produces, the loving and compassionate action to take is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to those around us.

Whenever I hear people speak who are in gospel ministry in various parts of the world, my heart is always encouraged. It is tempting to develop a myopic view of the world and only see what is right before our eyes. But when we lift our eyes and see the world, we see encouraging developments happening in the name of Christ. People in places like Ukraine, Poland, Cambodia, Africa, and the Middle East are coming to Christ. Churches are being started. The gospel is being preached. This leads me to one simple question: what are we doing to help spread the gospel in our community and around the world? As I consider our responsibility, two verbs come to mind. We are called to go. And we are called to serve. I pray that we will all ask the Lord where He would have us go and how He would have us to serve.