Returning to the Gospel
Today is another wonderful day to share a thought with you. I quickly want to point out one simple yet very important thing that the Church has missed out on for several years now: the simplicity of the gospel. The foundation of the gospel is rooted in one single factor—the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In today’s world, however, it has been made to look too complex because of the introduction of tactical and carnal preaching, which is taught in the theology of men's wisdom and sometimes targeted at appeasing only the hearers rather than crucifying the flesh for the salvation of their souls. As Paul said:
"And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Corinthians 2:4).
This was the same error the early Church made after the era of the apostles. The leaders of the Church started focusing more on doctrinal accuracy and theology than on the primary aim of the gospel, which is the salvation of souls. This led to over a thousand years of silence of the gospel in the world, commonly called the Dark Ages. It was not until around the 18th century that the true gospel was again manifested in its fullness. But now, the Church is about to make the same mistake again and experience another dark age, which will lead into the era of the Antichrist. Obviously, this is what Jesus indicated as one of the signs of the end times (Matthew 24), because there is a spirit of error trying to cunningly water down the gospel into merely a message of provision.
Meanwhile, Paul calls the gospel the power of God to bring salvation to mankind (Romans 1:16), and John calls the true gospel the preaching of Jesus Christ (1 John 4:2). The scriptures says, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world" (1 John 4:1-3).
The Church must return to the root of the gospel and preach Christ once more as the core of our message. There are many people dying daily without hearing the gospel, and Christ has given us the responsibility to save them by preaching the simple gospel—which is as easy as telling them that Christ loves them and that is why He died and rose to give them eternal life (John 3:16). That is all you need to preach to a dying soul because it is God who convicts a person to believe; it is not our responsibility. Ours is simply to be present to speak.
Once you are born again, it is your responsibility to share the gospel with the people around you and win souls for Christ. Jesus said we should all "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).
He was not giving this responsibility only to pastors but you and me.
I remember when I went on a missionary journey to India with a church. There, we preached the gospel in its simplicity and received a great harvest of souls. I truly believe we have trivialized the gospel in many parts of the world because we treat it as common, leading many Christians to be more interested in hearing a message that solves their immediate problems rather than the truth of the gospel. But the truth is that when we put God’s business first, He takes care of all those other things without much prayer. As the Scripture says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33).
So that is it for today. I hope you will start sharing your faith immediately, because that is the way to get the job done—the job of winning the world for Christ. Have a blessed day!
Today’s Reading:
Matthew 28, Mark 16, Proverbs 6
Nevertheless, if you are not born again, you can do so today by saying this simple prayer out loud in faith, believing that Jesus Christ died and rose again for your sins:
Prayer for Salvation
“Dear Lord, I believe Jesus died and rose again for me. Forgive me my sins and come into my life. I confess Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Thank you, Father, for doing this for me. Reveal yourself to me today. In Jesus' name, Amen.”
Congrats! Your status has changed to that of a child of God if you said this prayer in faith.