The gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer to every problem in the world today. It is the gospel now, forever, and always until eternity.
Romans 1:16 (NKJV) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”
In our lives and the life of our Church, we want to be gospel centered in everything that we do. It’s true, we are living in difficult times. Yet the days in which we live didn’t come without warning. Over and over again the Bible warns us of the darker evil age of the last days. For years we have heard Bible study after Bible study about the persecution that is to come. Why are people freaking out as if God didn’t prepare us for it? Riots in the streets? Check. People loving themselves? Check. Murders? Check.
2 Timothy 3:1 (NLT) “You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times.”
As believers, we need to approach these times with the right perspective. Whether it’s oppression against the Church or racism destroying lives, our gracious Savior has given us the Kingdom to live out in a very dark world.
Justice and mercy always and forever flow from the cross of Jesus, and they come together! It is the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us, forgives us, and makes us new.
There is no doubt that persecution against the church is sinful. There can be no question whatsoever racism is sinful. It’s not even up for debate that believers gossiping, slandering, and venting all of their negative feelings about things on social media is blatant sin! Listen, while our culture loves to make things political and seek justice that way, we know that these are not a political issues. These are moral issues, and according to the Bible, they are sin issues. We live in a fallen world, one that is without God, and wandering around without hope; just like many of us once were.
Philippians 2:14–16 (NLT) “Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.”
The church of Jesus Christ in our world today has a responsibility to remember this: we are in this world, but we are not of this world. So, we approach things from a different perspective; we have a higher responsibility. Be mindful, to whom much is given, much is required. We are able to look at things in a sober way and declare that any injustice is not from Jesus. Our response should not be from emotion, and how careful we need to be that our response is from God’s word. Open doors abound for the gospel to go forward. Remember this, Love always furthers the Gospel!
John 13:34–35 (NLT) “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Amen! One issue I see right now is that we must continue to be clear in defining what The Gospel is because the term is now being used to define something completely different. I see young people now who have no clue of a true Biblical definition. Churches are teaching that The Gospel is simply Jesus freeing people from social constructs and has nothing to do with repentance of sin or eternal salvation.