Category: The Gospel in a Nutshell

Those Who Love to Debate May End Up in Hell

While in Athens, Paul…

...had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.” 19  Then they took him to the high council of the city. “Come and tell us about this new teaching,” they said. 20  “You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” 21  (It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.) Acts 17:18-21 (NLT)

Some people love acquiring knowledge but are not willing to commit to the truth.

This might be like contrasting a womanizer with a faithful married man. Both like women in general, but when the latter finds “the one,” he realizes his quest was completed and commits to just one person.

Some people love to debate more than they love truth.

It does not matter to them which side of the argument they defend. Such people may end up in hell, if they are unwilling to forsake everything when they find the truth.

Jesus is the Truth, and when we find him (or he finds us!), it is immensely satisfying. We realize that our search has ended because we found “the one.” Jesus said:

...“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. John 14:6 (NLT)

Beware of people who merely want to debate, but who are not really looking for truth. They are a waste of time and energy, like trolls on social media.

People cannot be saved through debate, only by making a commitment to the truth, who, it turns out, is a Person.

I close with Paul’s words to the church in Thessalonica.

He [the man of lawlessness, the antichrist] will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 2 Thessalonians 2:10 (NLT)
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Get in the Game

Paul next traveled to Athens, Greece, where…

...he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17  So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. Acts 17:16-17 (NIV)

Paul visited two places where people gathered to look for opportunities to share the gospel. God wants us to be alert for such chances to talk to people about Jesus. A skilled fisherman will go where he believes there will be fish to catch. The skilled angler will know what bait to use, at what depth to fish, etc. God wants us to use our wits to go where we can find people, but, more importantly, to listen to the Holy Spirit.

Jesus advised his disciples to…

Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see [to be reconciled to God].’ Matthew 22:9 (NLT)

I believe this translates to our getting out in our neighborhoods with the intent to talk to people about Jesus, should the opportunity arise. This must be done with wisdom, love, and consideration. We don’t want people running inside every time we go outside. 🙂

I believe it is a great idea for us followers of Christ to make it a practice to be present where people gather with the express purpose of seeing what God might do.

This will require us to be alert, relaxed, and lovingly bold. It will give us an opportunity to hone our conversational skills so that we can easily talk to people about spiritual things without making them feel uncomfortable. If we use conversation to discover more about them, their situations, and needs, we will likely find a way to offer to pray for them or to share how Christ could be the answer they seek. The more we do this, the easier it will get, the more relaxed we will become, and the more we will enjoy it. The Holy Spirit is waiting for us to get in the game, so to speak. We cannot make an impact on anyone by sitting on the sidelines. God is already at work in people’s lives. He is looking for teammates.

So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” Matthew 9:38 (NLT)
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Look for Open-Minded People

Paul and Silas made it to the city of Berea where they encountered people who were open to truth.

And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. 12  As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men. Acts 17:11-12 (NLT)

Most of the Jewish leaders had already made up their minds to reject Jesus and his teachings. Such closed mindedness blinded them to the beauty and truth of his words and the testimony of his many miracles. They imagined that they were the custodians of truth whose job was to root out those who had veered away from their teachings, not realizing that their teachings had long since departed from God’s heart.

And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. 7 ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’ Mark 7:6–7 (NASB95)

Humble open-minded people are willing to consider an idea and check out its validity for themselves. Instead of being manipulated by those who hated Paul and the gospel, the Bereans examined the Scriptures to see if the gospel’s claims were true.

Jesus described this sort of people in his famous parable of the sower.

And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest. Luke 8:15 (NLT)

Rather than wasting time with those who steadfastly resist the gospel, look for those who are open-minded.

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Preaching vs Discussing

As Paul and Silas continued on their second missionary journey, they arrived in the city of Thessalonica in Greece.

Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2  As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. 3  He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” Acts 17:1-3 (NLT)

The Greek word translated “to reason with” in verse 2 above is dialegomai, which can also mean to discuss with, preach, or address. There is quite a difference between talking to an audience and holding a discussing with a group. It is the kind of difference in experience between listening to a “talking head” in a large auditorium and sitting in a living room talking with a group of people.

When people are open to engage the scriptures, it is important for us to present the gospel in a way that enlists our hearers to think through the its claims and hopefully arrive at the desired conclusion.

Only the Holy Spirit can enable us to see truth, however. Our part is to reason with people. His part is to open their understanding and reveal Christ to them, causing faith to spring up in their hearts. 

There is a divine logic to the gospel, but only those whose eyes and hearts have been opened by the Holy Spirit can perceive it.

You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:5–6 (NLT)
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Be Prepared to “Close the Deal”

On Paul’s second missionary journey, he was thrown in jail in Philippi. After being beaten and put in stocks, Paul and Silas sang praises to God, who caused an earthquake that set the prisoners free. The jailer was going to commit suicide, thinking he had lost his prisoners – a capital offense. Paul stopped him, saying that everyone was accounted for.

The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30  Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31  They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.” 32  And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. 33  Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. 34  He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God. Acts 16:29-34 (NLT)

Even though many of our hearers may be closed to the gospel, we may at times have the privilege of sharing with someone who is immediately ready to repent and confess Christ as Savior and Lord. In such cases, we must be ready to “close the deal.”

We do not want to rush things and make it “too easy” for someone to be saved by indicating that all one has to do is repeat a prayer, even when there is no heartfelt repentance. However, if a person gives a clear indication of true faith, we should move immediately, just as Paul did. I suggest encouraging (or, if necessary, leading) the person to pray out loud something like the following. The exact words are not as important as the heartfelt communication to God.

Typical Prayer for Salvation

Jesus, I realize now that you are indeed the risen Lord of Lords. Thank you for dying for my sins and giving me eternal life. I now give you my life. Help me to serve you and be a faithful witness to you and the gospel. Holy Spirit, fill me to overflowing. Transform me from the inside out so that I think and act like Jesus. Father God, thank you for making me your child and part of your forever family. Help me to know, experience, and communicate to others your amazing love. I give you my worship and thanks. Amen.

It is a great idea to immediately baptize new believers in water, too, just as Paul did. Water baptism is our public proclamation of allegiance to Jesus the Messiah.

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Carefully Present Gospel Truth

When God healed the crippled man in Lystra, the onlookers misinterpreted what it meant.

And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” 12  Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13  And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. Acts 14:11-13 (ESV)

God intended for the attesting healing miracle in Lystra to convince people of the truth of the gospel, but the people of Lystra tried to fit it into their existing pagan paradigm. Before knowing the truth about God, we like to create for ourselves “gods” that fit into our presuppositions about life and reality and allow us to do whatever we want.

God’s name, as revealed to Moses, is “I am Who I am.”

God is not who we might want him to be. He is who he is, whether we like it or not. We must change to be like him, not the other way around.

He revealed himself fully through his Son, Jesus the Messiah King of Israel.

If we want to know what God is really like, we can find out by believing in and knowing Christ.

The gospel is a presentation of the truth about God as revealed through Christ. Our responsibility as gospel preachers is to carefully present the Good News so that people will not easily misinterpret it.

Only faith in the true God as revealed in the true gospel saves. Our job is to make sure that is what people hear.

As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 (NLT)
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Are We Willing to Take the Risk?

Paul and Barnabas arrived in Lystra, where they preached the gospel.

Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. 9  He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, 10  said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking. Acts 14:8-10 (ESV)

Since we believe that God’s Spirit partners with us when we share the gospel, we should be alert to signs of his activity.

At Lystra, Paul discerned that one of his listeners had faith to be healed. How did he know? Only those who have trained themselves (Hebrews 5:14) through practice to see, hear, or intuit what the Spirit is doing and saying (John 5:19) and who are willing to take the risk of possibly being wrong will be able to do this.

Being Christ’s representative is not about our looking good to people and never making a mistake. Christ expects his messengers to be faithful to him, regardless of the personal cost.

Being led by the Spirit involves an internal “knowing” that cannot be logically explained. The Spirit is an able communicator, but he speaks most often in what the Bible calls a “still, small voice,” (1Kings 19:12) that only those who believe and are open and alert will detect.

Once we discern the Spirit’s “leading,” we face the choice of what to do next.

Paul risked the entire gospel opportunity by publicly commanding the man to stand up, something impossible for him without a miracle. The risk was rewarded when God healed him. This public attesting miracle validated the message and the messengers to the people of the area and opened their hearts to the gospel message.

If we want biblical results, we must take biblical risks.

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Please don’t be offended by this article.

When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers. 49  So the Lord’s message spread throughout that region. Acts 13:48-49 (NLT)

This is going to offend someone, but the Bible teaches that because of sin, none of us just naturally chooses God. Unless God does something on his end, we will never move toward him. We are his inveterate enemies until the Holy Spirit does his hidden internal work in our hearts. 

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 “It is written in the prophets, ‘AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. John 6:44–45 (NASB95)

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Romans 5:8–10 (NASB95)

God chose those who would become his children before he created the world.

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5  God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:4-5 (NLT)

This theological truth has enormous implications regarding the gospel.

It means that when we share the good news with people, we can be confident that some will respond.

Despite our natural propensity to resist God and his Word, some will hear, believe, and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. We do not know in advance who these chosen ones are. Neither to do they. Only God knows. That being the case, we share the gospel with everyone, knowing that God is working behind the scenes in ways we cannot necessarily comprehend or perceive, preparing hearts to receive the good news about Jesus.

Our responsibility is to share the gospel with everyone we can. The Spirit’s work is to bring people to Christ.

We find out who the elect are when they respond to the gospel, but God has known all along. If this offends me, it means that I have not yet come to terms with my own sinfulness. It means that I think everyone deserves to be able to go to heaven. No one deserves anything but death because all of us have rebelled against God. Rather, let us rejoice that God did not leave all of us in a deadly state of rebellion, but mercifully saves some.

Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! 15 For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.” 16 So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it. 17 For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.” 18 So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen. Romans 9:14–18 (NLT)

Thank you, Lord, for your mercy and grace! We are also promised that anyone who comes to Christ will not be turned away.

However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. John 6:37 (NLT)

If something in you is drawn to Christ, it is a wonderful sign that the Holy Spirit is at work in your life.

Why not go ahead and surrender? God’s election does not render us impotent. Rather, we too have a part to play. He wants us to respond to his grace by opening our hearts to him and receiving Jesus as both Lord and Savior.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20 (NASB95)

Do your part. Open your heart to God.

Prayer

Jesus, I can sense your tug on my heart. I have resisted you for too long. Come into my life! I give you my whole being and receive all that you died to provide for me – forgiveness, reconciliation, eternal life, and your enduring presence. Holy Spirit, fill me to overflowing. Transform me on the inside and empower me to boldly tell others this good news. Amen.

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The Gospel Was Always Intended for the Entire World

When Paul preached the gospel in Antioch of Pisidia, Paul cited Isaiah 49:6 to explain that the good news was always intended for the entire world.

For the Lord gave us this command when he said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.’” Acts 13:47 (NLT)

When God first announced the gospel to Abraham, he told him that one of his “seed” would be a blessing to the entire earth. In his letter to the church in Galatia, Paul explained that this promise was fulfilled in Christ Jesus.

What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” Galatians 3:8 (NLT) 

Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not 
say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to 
your seed,” that is, Christ. Galatians 3:16 (NASB95)

God’s intention was always to reach the entire world through the Jewish Messiah. The church is not a “parenthesis” in God’s plan. The church, composed of both Jews and Gentiles, is the heart of God’s purpose on the earth for all eternity.

to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:21 (NASB95)

God loves the entire world, as evidenced in the famous verse John 3:16.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NASB95)

The Jews were God’s vehicle to bring the Messiah King into the world to redeem people from every people group.

To read more about this, click here.

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How We Condemn Ourselves to Hell

When Paul preached the gospel in Antioch of Pisidia, the Jewish leaders rejected his message, prompting the following response.

Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, “It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the Gentiles. Acts 13:46 (NLT)

People who object to the gospel’s claim of being God’s only means of salvation sometimes ask the question: “What about those people who never have the opportunity to hear it? Is God so unrighteous that he would condemn them without giving them a chance to be saved?”

This question reveals an arrogant presupposition: it assumes that we have a “right” to be saved. Nothing could be farther from the truth. No one has a right to anything except what our sins earn for us, which is condemnation and death.

As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one. 11 No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. 12 All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” Romans 3:10–12 (NLT)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NLT)

A more important question for anyone reading this meditation is the following: “What about those who do hear the gospel and reject it?” Paul clearly said that, if we reject God’s generous offer to be forgiven and reconciled to him, we condemn ourselves.

It turns out that God is completely righteous (Psalm 92:15), and no one goes to hell against his or her will.

The Bible says that those who seek God will find him. God never turns away any honest seeker, but will provide a way for them to know him.

You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 (NASB95)

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7:7–8 (NASB95)

Jesus made this possible by taking upon himself the guilt and condemnation associated with our rebellion against God and dying on the cross.

If we put our trust and allegiance in him, the risen Lord, we will be released from God’s just death sentence. If we choose to reject this offer, we seal our own doom – an eternity without God. The choice is ours.

God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. 18  “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. John 3:17-18 (NLT)

Are you ready to get right with God? Here is a sample prayer you can use right now, if you want.

Prayer

Father God, the thought of spending eternity separated from you, the Author and Sustainer of life, terrifies me. Please forgive me for all my sins, especially for trying to live without any reference to you. Thank you for sending your Son to die for me. Jesus, I acknowledge that you are the risen Lord. I receive you into my life and dedicate my remaining days to your service. Holy Spirit, come live in and through me. Transform me on the inside to be more like Jesus. Empower me to be bold in telling others about how you make people right with you. Amen.

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