Jesus told His original disciples that He was going to make them fishers of men. That has always been the purpose for those called by the gospel. Preaching the gospel is one of our primary responsibilities as Christians. If we want to please God, we have to do His will, and preaching the gospel is certainly a part of that will. We should preach the gospel, not only because it pleases God, but because of our love for man and our realization that we are the world’s only hope.
In Romans 10, Paul contrasts being saved by the Law of Moses and by faith, that is, by obeying the gospel of Christ (Romans 10:5-8). One, that is, the Law, demands living a sinless life by obeying every aspect of it without fail (Romans 2:13). Would you want to base the salvation of your soul on living a completely sinless life? The good news is that we do not have to because, according to the faith, believing in Christ will result in our salvation (Romans 10:10-11). Keep in mind that the faith Paul speaks of is a comprehensive faith that includes obeying God’s plan of salvation. Still, obeying the gospel is far easier than living a sinless life.
After making this contrast, Paul begins to show us the part we play in the process of a person being saved. It is not a big part, but it is still critically important. This is how Paul put it.
Romans 10:13-14 (ESV)
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
The gospel is the most significant message that has ever been produced. It is God’s saving power (Romans 1:16). It tells us that we can be saved even though we have sinned. It tells us that our sins can be washed away by the blood of Christ (Acts 22:16), allowing us to be restored to fellowship with God. It tells us that our salvation is possible because Jesus died for our sins and was raised for our justification (Romans 4:25; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). However, this message cannot save those who never hear it, and the world will not hear it unless we are willing to take it to them. We must preach this message to the masses who are dying in sin.
We must remember that spreading the gospel of Christ is not optional. We are under a divine directive to teach all nations.
Matthew 28:19 (ESV)
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Do you think we can please God while ignoring this command? If so, do you know of any other command that God has given that we can just ignore without it affecting the salvation of our souls? Why would the Great Commission be so different than any other command? It is not. It must be kept. It must be carried out faithfully by the only people who can do it—those who have already heard and obeyed the message themselves. If you are a Christian, that would be you.
Let us all do what we can to save as many as we can. We know that we cannot save everyone, but we can save some. We cannot, however, save anyone if we are not willing to do our part in spreading the gospel of Christ. Let’s all follow the instructions that Paul gave Timothy—Preach the Word!
As you wind down for the night, think about these things.