What is the gospel? According to Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, the gospel can be summarized as, "[that] by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me."
Two things in particular I want to derive from this text: first that the gospel is that by which we are saved, and that Christ died for our sins. I bring this up because I previously stated that the best society a Christian could seek would be one that would promote the sharing of the gospel. I also stated that part of what that would entail would be a society with a strong moral center. Most people do not think of themselves as particularly wicked or evil, instead we rationalize what we do, so that we seem innocent in our own eyes. The problem with people who think they are innocent is that they do not perceive their need for salvation because they do not see that they have anything from which to be saved. People who are innocent of wrong doing do not need the good news that Christ can save them from their sins.
Because most people do not think of themselves as wicked, it is important that Christians need to be reminded of the very real threat of hell. We need to be reminded and we need to bring people's attention to the fact that there is a place of punishment and separation from God. There is a hell that awaits those who do not know Christ. While it ought not be our goal to try to scare someone into salvation, as though it would be sufficient only that men want to escape hell without loving God, we also do no favors if we neglect to mention the reality of hell with those we tell about the gospel of Christ.
I am reminded of a friend of mine who I shared the gospel with who understood the implications and said that she wanted to believe, but at the same time she did not want to believe that so many of the good people she knew were going to hell. For her there was a significant conflict created, because she saw that without Christ there was no salvation, but she also did not want to admit that those she knew and loved would be destined to go to hell. Ultimately I pointed her to the justice of God, that she knowing the reality of hell would not be spared from it any more than them, and that the grace of God was sufficient to save whoever would trust in him, including those she did not want to see in hell. I had the opportunity to pray with her, eventually seeing her come to faith in Christ. Her heart was broken, but she knew that she was saved, and was able to pray to God fervently for others about whom she cared.
Would I have done her any favors if I told her that she did not need to worry, that hell was only a myth? Would I have done her any favors if, over the course of our relationship, I had wept with her about the reality of sin and a coming judgment? It was the fact of judgment that made her serious in seeking to know what she could do to avoid it, but it was the love of God that brought her to Christ. A man may be saved purely through hearing about the love of God, but I wonder what he thinks he is safe from. A man who knows of both the love of God and the awesome justice of God is fully able to appreciate his salvation, and understand the importance of telling others.
We live in a society were sexual immorality is seen as innocent, covetousness is seen as motivation, and idolatry is rampant. Yet, at the same time, some of the largest churches in America do not ever tell people the reality of sin. Pastors talk about the love of God, they tell people how to live good lives in the world today, and they do it all while holding bibles, but the reality is that they are leading people straight to hell. If we have not considered the very serious nature of sin as it effects our world and continues to attempt to gain foothold in our own lives, then we are fools.
If we say we want to share the gospel, but we refuse to tell people of the peril they are in, that they are sinners, and that God will judge them and send them to hell because of their sins, then we do not really want to share the gospel. Men can understand love, we see it all around us. Men can understand justice, for we all know what it is to treated unjustly. What men do not understand is that they are guilty, and that hell is fully just and God is fully righteous. Part of the duty of a Christian who seeks to share the gospel is making that clear to people.
One final reason that we must stare the reality of hell directly in the face: because we do not live like we believe it. The vast majority of Christians in America will never share their faith. They claim to believe in the gospel, but they will never tell anyone else of the good news, they will never attempt to save even one soul from hell. We need to remember hell not only because it is necessary that men should understand what they are saved from, but because we need a constant reminder of why we should care about those who have not heard. If you do not have a passion to share Christ, let me ask you this: Have you really looked at your neighbor? Do you really love your neighbor?
We need to be loving, we need to be compassionate, we need to be merciful and have words that are seasoned with salt, so that men would want to come and speak to us. But, we also need to be honest and we need to be brave. We need people to understand that when they say, "I'm not that bad," they are wrong. When you speak the gospel, can it be said of your hearers: "Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?'" (Acts 2:37)
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