“The Gospel”
Gospel of Christ
There have been times when Christians
have inquired, “How do we reach people?”
The answer is, preaching the Gospel of Christ is only way that we can
effectively reach anyone for Christ. God
is removed from the process of Salvation and it dishonors Him when we seek
avenues other than what He established in order to win people to Christ. In order to justify using other creative
strategies to inform people about Jesus, some have asserted that people are not
receptive to the Gospel anymore.
However, when we review history, we notice that the Gospel has always
made people uncomfortable because it is offensive. The Spirit of God is what draws people as He
sets the stage for the Gospel to be preached.
Here are a few examples of times when
the Holy Spirit provided the opportunity to distribute the Gospel:
In Acts chapter 2, the Holy Spirit
filled the Disciples of Jesus and gave them the ability to speak in languages
that they had not previously learned. Jews
who were staying in Jerusalem gathered around to find out what the noise that
they heard was. During this time, they
heard the Gospel preached to them in their native tongues. When Peter preached the Gospel of Christ to
them, they were convicted of their sins and chose to repent. This produced a conversion of almost three
thousand people.
In Acts chapter 3, the Holy Spirit empowered
Peter and John to heal a lame man. This event caused people to take notice and gather
around to witness the amazing sight. As
a result of the Holy Spirit drawing a massive crowd, Peter and John were given
the opportunity to administer the Gospel and five thousand people were converted.
In Acts 8, an angel gave Philip
specific instructions to go to a designated road. When he arrived in the place that he had been
directed, Philip saw an Ethiopian man riding in his chariot. After catching up to the chariot, Philip
heard the man reading Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the crucifixion of Jesus. Philip taught him about Jesus and what He had
done for a world full of sinners and hearing the Gospel caused the Ethiopian to
accept Jesus.
God will take care of making the
arrangements for people to hear the Gospel.
It is never by chance that a person receives Christ. He does not want a mass of people to be to be
indoctrinated with a watered down Gospel and He will not allow the crucifixion
of Christ to be depreciated. The Gospel
is the power of God that leads to Salvation.
When we use anything other than the Gospel to introduce Salvation to
people, one of two things will occur: (1)
either they will not be converted, or (2) they will be impacted by something
that is too weak to sustain them and it will not last. We do not have to worry about REACHING
people; we just need to be prepared to witness the Gospel to them when the
opportunity becomes available.
Romans 1:16
16 For I am not ashamed of the
gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
