Am I ashamed of the gospel?
Acts 1:8, Mark 1:17
Jesus was very plain day after day as to why he came from heaven to earth. His mission was “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). He had come down from heaven to do God’s will by saving sinners so that none of them would be lost, and so that they would be raised from the dead on the final day (John 6:37-39). He came, “Not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). To this end, Jesus proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God every day, winning people from Satan’s dark kingdom into the eternal kingdom of God. And for this he shed his blood on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day.
And after he finished that atoning work and displayed his absolute victory over sin and death by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus commissioned all his followers to join him in his mission. He would make each of us “fishers of men.” Essential to the task of a fisherman is to draw a fish from the water onto the shore. This must be done with skill and strength. In the same way, Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44). Our task is to join God in his work by the power of the Spirit and draw sinners out of sin into eternal life through faith in Christ.
Maturing Christians increasingly develop a passion for the glory of God and a deep compassion for perishing souls. They cannot stand idly by while people around them flounder constantly in their empty lives of sin, descending day after day toward the eternal pit of hell. Their hearts are moved with compassion as Jesus’ was, and they cry out in prayer for the lost to be saved (Romans 10:1). They also are bold and faithful in actual witnessing to lost people. They build relationships with them and speak the words of the gospel, which “is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes”(Romans 1:16).
“Our task is to join God in his work by the power of the Spirit and draw sinners out of sin into eternal life through faith in Christ.”
Not only that, but they also care about cross-cultural missions… the effort to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to geographical places and to ethnic groups that have never heard the name of Jesus. While not every maturing Christian actually goes overseas as a missionary, yet every one of them deeply cares about the efforts to do this worldwide. All growing Christians learn that Christ will not return until the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached to all nations, tribes, peoples and languages all over the world (Matthew 24:14). And they are willing to either go themselves to serve in those far away settings, or to send others with faithful support—financial and prayerful.
Maturing Christians develop a regular habit of bold witness to lost people. Is this passion in your heart as well? Are you in the regular pattern of sharing the gospel with lost people in your hometown or city? Are you also passionate about missions, learning about unreached people groups and missionaries that are going to them? Are you asking God whether he would have you to go yourself? The same fire that led Paul to be willing to trade his own salvation for that of lost people from among his own Jewish nation (Romans 9:2-3) can burn in your soul as well as you grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ!
