Please Preach the Good News

[Christsfreeservant]

“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!’ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.​

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“But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for​

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‘Their voice has gone out to all the earth,​

and their words to the ends of the world.’​

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“But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,​

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‘I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation;​

with a foolish nation I will make you angry.’​

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“Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,​

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‘I have been found by those who did not seek me;​

I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.’​

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“But of Israel he says, ‘All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.’” (Romans 10:14-21 ESV)​

Now the context of this, which begins in Romans 9, and concludes with Romans 11, I believe, is of Paul’s concern for his own people, the Jews, that they would believe in Jesus Christ and so be saved from their sins and have eternal life with God in heaven. But this does not have to be limited to just the salvation of the Jews, but includes the salvation of all people, for the message is the same for either one. All people, Jew or Gentile by birth, need to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved and to have eternal life with God.

But in order for people to believe in Jesus Christ, and to be saved from their sins, they need to hear the message of the gospel taught to them, but the true gospel, not the altered and diluted one which has gained so much popularity today. They need to hear Jesus’ words which teach us that to come after him we must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience to his commands. For if we hold on to our sinful lifestyles, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die to sin daily, and follow him (our Lord) in obedience to his commands, then we have eternal life in him.

But for those who have never heard of Jesus Christ, we should tell them that Jesus was and is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He left his throne in heaven, and he came to earth, and he was born as a human baby to a human mother, but conceived of the Holy Spirit and not of man. So when he walked this earth he was fully God and fully human (God incarnate), but without sin.

And while he lived on this earth he performed many miracles. He raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, healed people’s infirmities, delivered people from demons, and miraculously fed thousands of people with little food. And he preached forgiveness of sins and eternal life with God for the truly repentant who were obedient to God and to his word. And he taught that not everyone who calls him, “Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven.

Although he had some followers, and even though large crowds followed him wherever he went, he had many enemies, too. Those enemies were mainly the religious rulers among the Jews. They hated him because he claimed to be God, and he is God. And they hated him, too, because he pointed out to them their sins and their hypocrisy of religious performance. And they feared him because of his popularity among the people, and they were threatened by him for fear they would lose their own positions of power over the people.

So, they plotted his death. They falsely accused him, and they arranged for him to be arrested, and they were party to giving him a mock trial, and to having him beat beyond recognition, and to being mocked and spat upon. And they turned the masses against him and called for his crucifixion, although he was not guilty of doing anything wrong. And so he hung on a cross and died. But in his death he who knew no sin became sin for us so that when he died our sins died with him so that by faith in him we might die to sin and live with him to righteousness, for he was resurrected from death.

And notice with me here, when it says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”, that this is followed by, “But they have not all obeyed the gospel.” For the gospel requires obedience. Obedience is part of believing faith. And this faith comes from God, is authored by Christ, is persuaded of God, and is gifted to us by God, and it is not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of man. And God persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to repent of our sins and to follow him in obedience to his commands.

But many people who profess to know God are obstinate, rebellious, contrary, and disobedient to God and to the teachings of the Scriptures, with regard to Jesus Christ and his gospel message, whether Jew or Gentile by physical birth. And many who profess faith in Jesus Christ are believing in a false half-truth gospel which is not requiring death to sin and living to God and to his righteousness in obedience to his commands. And if they continue on that course, and they do not surrender their lives to Jesus Christ, they will not be saved from their sins nor have eternal life with God.

[Isaiah 53:1-12; Matt 7:21-23; Matt 26:26-29; Lu 9:23-26; Lu 17:25; Jn 1:1-36; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 8:24,58; Jn 10:27-33; Jn 20:28-29; Rom 5:8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 9:5; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 11:23-32; 1 Co 15:1-8; 2 Co 5:15,21; Eph 4:17-24; Php 2:5-11; Col 2:9; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 1:8-9; Heb 2:14-15; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:24; 2 Pet 1:1; 1 John 3:4-10]

Should I Not Preach Jesus

An Original Work / July 4, 2013
Based off 1 Corinthians 9:16-10:13

Woe to me should I not preach Jesus.
I’m compelled to preach the full gospel.
I make myself a slave to ev’ryone
To win their hearts to Christ.
All this I do for my Lord Jesus,
And for the sake of His Name;
Do it for the sake of His gospel,
So that I, its blessings gain.

Scripture notates the sins of others;
Written down for us as examples
To keep us from setting our hearts
On evil as did those of old.
Do not worship other gods of man;
Do not give your hearts to them;
Not partake in immorality.
Do not test your Lord and King.

So, be careful if you think you are
Standing firm in your faith in Jesus.
God has given his word to warn us,
So through faith we will not fall.
No temptation has o’ertaken you
Except what is commonplace.
God is faithful to not let you be
Tempted past what you can bear.
He gives the way of escape.