11 For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed ."12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;13 for "Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved."14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!"16 However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, "Lord , who has believed our report?"17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
Romans 10:11-17 (NASB)
Paul's words here are much greater than any expounding that I could do, but I feel it necessary to dig further into our need for preaching and witnessing the Gospel of the Christ. We are aliens in a foreign land. We do not belong in this world. Once, we were convinced that the world was our home, but now, seeing the truth, we know that our home is not here, we are merely sojourners in this land of iniquity. There are many enslaved still, whose lives have not yet been freed from the bondage of the flesh. We cannot save them, only the grace of our Father can accomplish this. What we can do, as being faithful to our Lord, is tell them about that sacrifice that God himself made upon the cross over two thousand years ago. Our hope is that by God's message, the sleeping saints will come to know the truth, believing in faith the gospel that saves their souls. We do not know who is or isn't going to join the Father in heaven. Likewise, we cannot arbitrarily hand out this Gospel message to those whom we think will receive it. It must be given to all in the world of men, for this is what we were commissioned to do by the One who saved us.
What is the Gospel?
To answer this, we must first understand the condition of the unregenerate soul. In the Garden of Eden, when Eve was tempted by the snake and she and her husband ate from the forbidden tree, sin and death entered in through their flesh, causing a great separation between the Creator and those whom he created. Our true nature was revealed, and that nature is at war with God. Although He made them perfect and they were without sin, their nature was to serve themselves. Adam had the opportunity to submit to God's will, but instead, he chose his own, and thus sin entered into the world. This nature of rebellion we have inherited from our human father. We are a rebellious people, unable to do the will of our Creator, and the penalty for this is death. (read Genesis 1-3)
We were given the Law through Moses (Exodus 20:1-18). But this Law was never intended to save our souls. It's purpose was to reveal to us our sinfulness (I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "You shall not covet ." Romans 7:7). In the Mosaic law, found in the first five books of the Old Testament, the Jews were given instructions on the sacrifices to atone for sins. This was not intended to save our souls either, but was merely a foreshadow of what God would do for us through His Son, Jesus Christ (read Jesus the Sin Offering and the Scapegoat in the January 2011 archives of this blog). The sacrifices of the Old Testament show that the only way to atone for sin is by the shedding of blood, and if it is not the blood of the guilty, then it must be a perfectly innocent substitution.
In summation, we are unworthy to commune with the Holy Creator of the universe. Our flesh is condemned to death (at some point everybody will lose their physical life), and our spirit along with our flesh will be eternally separated from God lest there should be an appropriate substitution to take our place. This substitutionary sacrifice was effected through Jesus Christ on the cross. Jesus is God incarnate (that is in the flesh). He was fully man, and fully God. He was born of the virgin Mary and God the Father is His sire, meaning He did not inherit the Adamic nature, but was in spirit and in flesh perfect. Upon the cross, He that was without sin, became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), and bore the penalty so that we would not have to. On the third day after the burial of His body, He was raised from the dead by the Father. He conquered death, never again to go down into decay (that is into death) but live eternally at the right hand of the Father. By this raising into new life, Jesus is the Second Adam, in which we now have forgiveness of our former rebellion. We now have the ability to commune with God the Father, and we have the eternal life that He was raised into.
That is the Gospel. Through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are saved who believe, in faith, by the grace of our loving, eternal Father. So now the next step is to preach it to the world. There are many who don't know about the gospel for they have never heard it. Some have heard it in their ears, but they have not seen it as evidenced through the followers of the Way. This leads into the next subject of this article.
What is the importance of preaching?
15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
Mark 16:15-16
First off, preaching is important because Jesus told us to do so, and if we love Him, we will obey his commandments. At the time, Jesus was talking to the eleven disciples that were with Him just before his ascension. I've looked at this several ways and I came to the conclusion that this commandment could not have been just for them, but for all of His disciples. The eleven could not possibly go into all the world for a few reasons, one being the span of their natural lives and the lack of sufficient technology. Second, the Americas would not be discovered for almost 1500 years and the aboriginal peoples of these lands were definitely included in the "all" in "all the world." Lastly, there are babies still being introduced to this world that will need to hear the Gospel. So, as you can see, Jesus was commissioning all of His disciples, of all time, to go throughout the world, preaching the gospel to all creation.
Preaching is also important because a very curious trait that all Christians possess, or at least should possess, and that is compassion. Though we don't know who will or will not believe the Gospel, remember Paul's words, "How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?" Preaching is a proclamation of the good news of our salvation. This is not a thing that we should hold only for ourselves, but it is essential to try to share this with as many as possible before we leave these earthen vessels. It is also important to learn more about this salvation through studying God's word for the sake of those that are still lost, so that we will be able to provide sound biblical answers to questions they will surely have. We should not wish that any should perish but that all would come to know the truth. If you saw a man on fire in the middle of the street, would you not want to save him from that fire that has the power to take his life? If you had a fire extinguisher, or a bucket of water to suffocate the flames, wouldn't you use it? Likewise, if you knew that someone was going to die an eternal death and you knew the truth that could save them, would you not try to put out the fire that consumes them?
Lastly, the proclamation of the saving grace of God our Father is vastly important; however, it does not end with the words you preach. Your actions should preach the truth in harmony with the vocal heralding of the Gospel message. It is not enough that we preach only, but that we live the salvation that has set us free from the condemnation we so rightly deserved. By the way we live our lives and preach the truth, we plant seeds of truth. This is all we can do. We cannot make a person believe, so do not worry and despair if it seems your witness is ineffectual. God is sovereign and in control, and by His grace alone can one believe in that saving power of the cross. All we can do is remain faithful to Him and obey his commandments. And whether they should believe or not, the world will at least have seen the evidence and heard the truth of the God we serve.
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