My Dear Followers in
Jesus Christ,
Are you active in sharing
your faith? (Philemon 6)
If you saw a blind man heading toward a cliff, would you stop
him? The road to heaven is narrow, said Jesus- consider all the
people you meet every day that are perishing- do you care? Are you
prepared and confident in how to share words of eternal life with
them?
Imagine having a restless night and glancing out of the window
of your bedroom only to see flames darting from your neighbor’s
house- what would you do? Would you knock gently on the door and
say, “Excuse me, I think it is more comfortable over at my
house”?
I think rather you would beat on the door and shout, warning
them of the fire. Jude wrote, “Others save with fear, pulling
them out of the fire.” (v. 23)
We’re concerned about many of the modern methods of
evangelism and whether they are Biblical. Are we compassionately
warning people, or are we trying to seduce them with a smooth
sales talk? Is God’s love and our felt needs the place that
we’re to typically start in a conversation about evangelism?
Others speak of friendship evangelism- developing a relationship
and hoping that in due time the unsaved friend will recognize the
difference in your life and ask you about it- but would your
evangelism method change if you knew someone had 24 hours to live?
Some teach evangelism claiming they use “the Romans Road”- is
it truly the Romans Road, or is there something missing?
Why do we need a Savior? To save us from our sins and the
resulting judgment/wrath that are a result of our sins, right
(Matt 1:21)? What is it that reveals that we are sinners? To most
unsaved people, the word sin as lost its significance. If you go
out on the streets and ask someone if they think they deserve hell
when they die, virtually all the unsaved will say ‘no’- thus,
they have no grasp of sin and its’ consequences, for God’s
word says “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Telling
them that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
doesn’t do much to alarm many sinners- they really don’t see
that they’re any “different” than anyone else- and God will
forgive their petty sins- after all, there are many people far
worse than them, so they think.
So, again, what reveals to an unbeliever that they’re a
sinner and in deep trouble? The Holy Spirit works on their
conscience (John 16:8, Rom 1:14-15), convicting them of sin
through God’s Law, summarized in the Ten Commandments. “The
Law is a tutor, leading us to Christ” (Gal 3:24)
What is the function of God’s Law- was it just for the Jewish
people? Was it just for people up until the time Christ died on
the cross? No- the Law of God is a tutor to lead people to Christ.
Let’s say you recommended a doctor for me to get a physical
and I felt fine, but I decided to have the physical, for I
haven’t had one in 20 years. The doctor walks in my room and
says, “I’ve got this tremendous cure for you- it will do
wonders in your life” and offers me medicine. Do you think I
would be interested? Of course not! But what if the doctor said,
“It’s time for your physical- please take off your shirt.”
He then proceeds to show me 10 clear signs on my flesh that I’ve
got a rare disease and that I’ve got a week to live. He’s now
got my full attention, “Doc, what do I do?” He replies,
“I’ve got good news- here’s the cure- take this and live.”
I would gladly take the cure, regardless of cost and side-effects-
we’re talking about my life. In the same way, when we have the
10 Cannons of God’s Law pointing at us, showing us our utter
sinfulness, we’ll hunger and thirst for a righteousness that
comes only through Jesus Christ and not through our own goodness.
The Book of Romans shows us this path. Paul introduces Romans
by saying he’s “not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power
of God for salvation of everyone who believes, for in the gospel
the righteousness of God is revealed, a righteousness that is by
faith, as it is written, ‘the just shall live by faith.’”
(Rom 1:16-17)
What will we need on Judgment Day? We’ll need righteousness.
How do we get righteousness? By faith in Jesus Christ. The
unbelieving world doesn’t buy that, so Paul spends from
1:18-3:20 showing the whole world that they have no chance to
obtain righteousness apart from the gospel of Christ, and he uses
God’s Law to punch the wind out of all our self-righteousness,
and to dangle us above the flames of hell. Paul opens by talking
of the wrath of God being poured out for all the unrighteousness
and ungodliness of men who seek to suppress the truth in
unrighteousness (1:18-19). Paul ends the section by stating,
“Now we know that whatever the Law says, it says to those who
are under the Law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the
world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the
Law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the Law is the
knowledge of sin.” (3:19-20) Romans shows us the purposes of the
Law of God:
It speaks to all who are under the Law (and 2:14-15 says our
conscience reveals we’re all under the law- it accuses us and is
written on our hearts)
The Law stops every mouth of its’ self-justification- the
mouth that says, “really, I’m ok, I’m not deserving of hell
and judgment.”
The Law holds the whole world (that’s everyone!) guilty
before God.
The Law doesn’t justify anyone, rather it condemns everyone-
it brings about wrath (4:15)
Without the Law, sin is not taken into account (4:15,5:12-13)
One offense results in condemnation (5:16) and death (6:23).
The purpose of the Law is that sin might abound (5:20) and be
“exceedingly sinful” (7:13).
The Law has dominion over us as long as we live (7:1), only
when we die to the Law through Christ (7:4) can we be set free
from the “Law of sin and death” (8:2).
The Law doesn’t stop sinful passions, rather, in exposing
sinful passions it just makes us that more aware of just how
sinful we are (7:5).
We can’t even know what sin is without the Law (7:7, 1 John
3:4).
The Law judges the heart- Paul was convicted of his own
covetousness (10th Commandment) by the Law and realized he was a
dead man (7:7)- the Commandment brought him to the awareness of
his spiritual condition (7:10).
The Law is holy, just and good (7:12)- as we review the
commandments with people on the streets and ask them to honestly
compare their lives to the commandments, much as some may try,
they have a tremendously difficult time denying the holiness and
perfection of the Law. The Law is spiritual (7:13) and reveals our
utter carnality- we come to realize as we clearly hear the Law
that it is perfect and we are evil (7:16-21), in spite of all our
good intentions.
The Law leads us to salvation in a Person, Jesus Christ,
instead of in works: “O wretched man that I am, WHO will deliver
me from this body of death? I thank God- through Jesus Christ our
Lord!” (7:24-25)
The Law shows us the impossibility in the flesh to please God,
for the flesh is not subject to the Law of God and cannot be
subject to the Law of God (8:7).
Finally, “Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to
everyone who believes” (10:4) The Jews and the rest of the world
have sought a righteousness through good works, but the Law
reveals the impossibility of that, “For Moses writes about the
righteousness which is of the Law, ‘The man who does those
things shall live by them’” (10:5) and none of us can live the
Law.
After 2 blistering chapters exposing our own utter depravity,
we deeply hunger and thirst for the blessed righteousness that can
only be found in Jesus Christ, “But now the righteousness of God
apart from the Law is revealed… even the righteousness of God,
through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For
there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a
propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His
righteousness…Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by
faith apart from the deeds of the Law!” (3:21-28) Note how
improper it is to start the Romans Road with 3:23!!! So too is it
inappropriate to share with unbelievers who believe they don’t
deserve hell the gospel until their hearts have been properly
plowed with the Law as a field is plowed before the seed is
planted. Indeed, the gospel is foolishness to those who are
perishing (1 Cor 1:17-18).
If before we plant the seed of the gospel we take the time to
turn he soil of the heart thoroughly with the Law, upon repentance
the effect will be the removal of the stones of sin.
The Law shows us where we stand before god. Please note: The
Law does NOT help us. It just leaves us helpless. The Law also
does NOT save anyone! D.L. Moody said it best, "God, being
a perfect God, had to give a perfect Law, and the Law was given
NOT to save men but to measure them. I want you to understand this
clearly, because I believe hundreds and thousands stumble at this
point. They try to save themselves by trying to keep the Law; but
it was never meant to save themselves by."
We at Good Messengers believe God doesn't need a salesman. We
don't share the gospel in a presentation we have conversations
with people. We don't call people sinners but we do reveal the Law
to them and help them to understand their personal sin against
God. Jesus Christ used the Law many times in witnessing (click
here to see examples), and He never revealed himself to a
proud self-righteous individual. We at Good Messengers are firm
believers in applying Law to the Proud ~ Grace to the Humble
in our witnessing in love. We don't use evangelism as a marketing
tool to promote a church or even this organization. We don't lead
people in "sinners prayers" trying to check-mark another
convert on our tally sheet. Rather we are concerned for the lost
and where they will end up when they step off this planet into
eternity.
Most importantly we do this in love. Conviction of sin is not
enough to bring men to Christ. Conviction of sin only speaks of
God's holiness, it tells the sinner nothing of God's willingness
to pardon. The Law tells nothing of God's grace, mercy and love.
We at Good Messengers proclaim God's love as 'good news' after
telling someone the bad news and only if he/she is humble before
God. When you see God's love in the Bible it is always in direct correlation
with the cross. We believe God's love can be shown no greater than
that of Christ's sacrifice on the cross for us, and that is what
we proclaim, because that is what Christ told us to do in Matthew
28:18-20; Acts 1:8; and Mark 16:15.
