LET'S PREACH THE GOSPEL Part 2
An Exhortation To Every Believer And Bible-Teaching Pastor
by Pastor-teacher Dennis Rokser
In our last article we began a study of 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 in an effort to derive a biblically-balanced teaching ministry relative to the Gospel.
PRINCIPLE #1: Pastors need to KEEP PREACHING and believers need to KEEP HEARING THE GOSPEL. (1 Corinthians 15:1a)
"Moreover, brethren, I declare (present tense) unto you the gospel…"
While a teacher of the Word of God needs to teach the whole counsel of God and to address the various problems within the church as they arise, the focus of his preaching needs to be ON JESUS CHRIST and the GOSPEL.
PRINCIPLE #2: The Gospel, by its very nature, is GOOD NEWS FROM GOD TO MAN. (1 Cor. 15:1b)
The word "gospel" (euangelion) literally means "good message or good news." Paul employs this term to refer to...
The Gospel is the greatest message of good news that anyone could ever hear and that any believer could ever preach. This is why Paul wrote to the Romans saying...
"I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:14-17)
If the Gospel is the greatest message we could ever preach, doesn't it stand to reason that we should proclaim it often?
PRINCIPLE #3: The Gospel is the message which BELIEVERS ARE TO PROCLAIM TO THE LOST. (1 Cor. 15:1c)
..."I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you..."
The word "preached" (euangelizo) is the verb form of our noun "euangelion" (gospel). What did Paul preach when he visited Corinth on his missionary journeys? Literally, he gospelled the gospel. He preached the good news of the Good News.
This is very noteworthy, for Corinth was a morally vile city. Yet when Paul came into town, he did not start the Moral Majority, or picket the local abortion clinics, or placard the gay bars in town. Paul did not get on Christian radio and bemoan the corruption of the present political administration. Furthermore, he did not join hands with apostate religion in an effort to clean up the town. So what DID he do?
"And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)
He preached Christ crucified! And what did God do? He used the message of the Gospel to save for eternity those who believed in Christ. WOW! And God then began to transform their lives, first having changed their destinies.
Evangelicalism is so mis-focused today as believers are entrapped in "good cause" syndromes ad infinitum, ad nauseum, at the expense of the Gospel. Dr. J. Vernon McGee said it well years ago on his "Through The Bible" radio ministry: "God did not call believers to clean up the fish bowl. He called us to catch fish." I wonder how much time, energy, and money is being spent by believers to clean up the fish bowl? If the same resources were utilized by the church to catch fish through preaching the Gospel, don't you think the results would be far better? And what eternal value is there anyway in a drunk going to hell sober?
Christian talk shows beautifully illustrate this modern day misfocus. Listen for one week and count the times the name "Clinton" comes up, versus how many times the name "Jesus Christ" is mentioned. And this is a CHRISTIAN talk show? I assure you that there is more focus on President Bill Clinton than on Jesus Christ. What a tragedy! And while I am deeply concerned about the moral decay of our society, and while I love the U.S.A., we must remember the clear mandate of God!
"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." (Acts 1:8)
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
Do not misunderstand me, I am greatly saddened and concerned about how many precious babies have died via abortion since Roe vs. Wade in 1973. Yet, I am even more concerned about how many precious adults have died without Christ and have gone to hell during the same time.
Dear believer, I exhort you to consider this challenge. If you would go to a caucus to promote pro-life or write your congressperson to oppose government legislation while never going with the Gospel to your neighbor, workmate, friends of family, etc. - you are not only not catching fish; you have totally missed the entire boat!
May the mandate of God, the love of Christ, and the destiny of the lost compel us to go and preach the Gospel to those who are perishing. This encouragement is also needed for churches where believers are taught sound doctrine but lack evangelistic vision. Too often, believers get spiritually "fat", inverted, and may have little vision or burden to win the lost to Christ. Let's not be Arctic-River Christians - frozen at the mouth. Who knows, the fish might be biting!
Years ago the late Dr. C.I. Scofield answered this question in his book…The Question Box:
"Is it not part of the mission of the church to correct the social evils of our day?" His answer: "The church has but one mission, defined in Luke 24:47, 48; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; and the church works most powerfully toward the solution of social problems not by turning reformer, but by preaching the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. When Christ was on earth all the social problems
PRINCIPLE #4: Hearing the Gospel is not enough as PEOPLE NEED TO PERSONALLY RECEIVE IT. (1 Cor. 15:1d)
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you…which also ye have received…"
These Corinthians did not merely hear the Gospel of salvation via Paul, THEY RECEIVED IT. The verb "received" is in the aorist tense referring to a completed past event. The Gospel is received when one believes it (15:2). The active voice of this verb indicates that the Corinthians chose to receive it. The indicative mood shows that their reception was actual, not superficial.
Dear reader, while the Gospel is good news from God about His gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, it is of no personal value to you until you receive it or accept it by faith. Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ alone and His finished work on the cross for you? Christ believed is the Gospel received. Then you could personally go to others and proclaim the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
PRINCIPLE #5: BELIEVERS need to STAND for THE GOSPEL. (I Cor. 15:1e)
..."and wherein ye stand…"
"Wherein" refers back to "the gospel which I preached unto you." The perfect tense of "stand" is employed to indicate a past event with abiding results in the present. Paul not only preached the gospel to the Corinthians resulting in their salvation upon receiving it, but they chose in the past and continued in the present to take a definite stand for the Gospel message. How this is needed in our day!
Due to the intense desire for human approval and ecumenical unity, coupled with a sappy sentimentality disguised as "love", it has become unpopular to take a stand for the Gospel. Instead, the world's spirit of "toleration" and "compromise" has beaten down ministries which once stood for the Gospel of grace. We fear being labeled as "unloving," "judgmental," "critical," and "narrow-minded," even by other so-called believers. The pragmatic practice of the "end-justifies-the-means" has dominated evangelicalism for the last forty years resulting in the line of demarcation between truth and error being seriously blurred. May God raise up a generation of believers who will "hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in the faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." (2 Timothy 1:13) Have we forgotten that,
"For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake." (Philippians 1:29)
"And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased." (Gal. 5:11)
"But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness." (1 Corinthians 1:23)
"For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." (Galatians 1:10)
PRINCIPLE #6: The Gospel offers the good news of SALVATION to us. (1 Cor. 15:2a)
..."by which also ye are saved…."
"By which" refers back again to the Gospel which Paul preached and which they had received and stood for.
"Ye are saved" is a present, passive, indicative verb. The passive voice clearly indicates that no sinner can save himself/herself; it is God alone who saves us. The indicative mood is the mood of fact or assumed reality. This means one's salvation by God's grace is not a "hope-so" one, but a "know-so" one.
"
The present tense of "saved" may be viewed in two possible ways. First, Paul may be communicating that these Corinthians via the gospel were being presently saved from the POWER OF SIN in their Christian lives as long as they remained steadfast to the Gospel, just like they had been saved from the PENALTY OF SIN (hell) when they had trusted Christ. In other words, the Gospel they had received would continue to have saving effects from spiritual damage upon their lives.
In the second view, the apostle may be indicating that the gospel continues to bear fruit in Corinth by sinners continuing to receive it, and as a result being "saved."
In either case, what is obvious is that more than anything else, the Gospel offers God's SALVATION to unworthy sinners. This is the very reason why Jesus Christ came to earth the first time.
"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:16-18)
"But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." (Galatians 4:4-5)
"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." 1 (Timothy 1:15)
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16)
Man's real problem is not low self-esteem; by nature we are born alienated from God as hopeless, helpless, and hellbound sinners. All of our good works are as filthy rags before a thrice holy God (Isa. 64:6). We are desperately in utter need of what only God can provide and offer to us, namely salvation through Jesus Christ alone.
When is the last time you listened to a Christian psychologist on the radio who said to a listener, "Dear friend, your real bottom-line problem is not a bad marriage, or that you came from a dysfunctional family or an alcoholic home, nor is it a failure to bond with your dad, or the need to rid yourself of your inner child. Your real problem is that you are LOST and you need to be SAVED by the amazing grace of God!" Reader, please do something for me. Listen to your favorite "Christian psychologist" on the radio for the next month. Please write down every time you hear the word "sin." Please record every Scripture verse mentioned. Please note every time the Gospel is given. Then ask yourself, "Is this person addressing the real needs of people via the Gospel?" Like the song says, "people need the Lord," and Jesus Christ is Who the Gospel of salvation is all about. Unfortunately, few people are hearing the real solution to their eternal destiny and life's problems
¾ which is Jesus Christ, Who loved us and gave Himself for us.If you could talk to someone about salvation, abortion, or homosexuality - which would it be? I was reminded of this a number of years ago when I came face to face with an abortion clinic picketer. He happened to be a believer who had been previously apart of D.B.C. some years ago.
Me: "Hi Mike! How are you doing?"
Mike: "Fine. Just out picketing."
Me: "Do you do this very often?"
Mike: "About once a week."
Me: "Why do you do it?"
Mike: "Well, we just want to let the public know that babies are being aborted at this clinic."
Me: "Oh, that's terrible. Do you get much response?"
Mike: "Not really. Occasionally someone will sneer at us. While sometimes someone applauds us."
Me: "That's interesting, Mike. But, do you ever tell people passing by the good news?"
Mike: "What do you mean?"
Me: "Certainly it is bad news to hear of babies being aborted at this clinic, as I too am totally against abortion. But do you ever tell all these needy people the good news of how God loves them; how Christ died for them and their sins and rose again, and how through faith alone in Christ alone they can be eternally saved by God's grace?"
Mike: "No. I guess I've never told them ‘the good news’."
Me: "You know Mike, when the apostle Paul came into Corinth it was laden with every sexual sin imaginable including abortion. But instead of trying to clean up the symptoms of their problems, he presented to them the gospel of grace. As a result, people trusted in Christ and were saved. Then God began to change their lives. The people on this street need to hear the good news of salvation."
Mike: "I never looked at it this way before."
Do not forget that the gospel offers God's solution to man's greatest need, which is SALVATION. By regularly emphasizing the Gospel, believers are reminded of this and can actually learn HOW to present it.
¢Part 3 will be in the May/June issue.