Preaching the Gospel

[Jonathan Poland]

1. What distinguishes "the gospel" from other messages in the Bible?
2. Is it more important to preach "the gospel" than other messages in the Bible? Why or why not? Please support your answer with Scripture.
3. Are there times or places when or where the gospel should not be preached? If so, what would some examples be? If not, why is the Church not preaching the gospel as often as it should, and what can we (corporately or individually) do to help change this? Again, please support your answer with Scripture.

[Brian Lucero]

Great question. But that one's going to make me think longer than I have time for now. Perhaps you can also clarify what you mean by the third point.

[Jonathan Poland]

I altered the third point above. Check it out and let me know if you still think it is unclear.

[Brian Lucero]

I admit, I haven't spent as much time thinking about these questions as I hoped, but I will continue to as they seem to be important in helping shape the way we prioritize our lives and our time.

1. I think there are several major themes/messages in the Bible that should be preached besides the gospel, e.g. the holiness and perfection of God, the sovereignty of God, worship and worthiness of one creator, the glory of God, etc. The gospel I think would be distinguished, depending of course on the extent of the definition you are using (in this context it sounds like you are using it in an evangelistic sense for non-believers, so I will follow for this discussion), as the message which will accomplish or satisfy man's need for salvation. The message does emcompass within it, however, other messages of the Bible though. But we should also realize that God doesn't exist for us. The (evangelistic) gospel is the not the end-all or the ultimate message. The gospel only helps people see that in the end the glory of God is what's most important. For believers who already believe the (evangelistic) gospel, hearing the messages of worship and God's worthiness, etc., may (rightly) become more important in their lives.

Of course, in a broader sense, the (non-evangelistic) gospel message (the message of our unworthiness and God's perfection, glory, and mercy) applies to all people, believers or not, and we all need to keep hearing this message.

2. The (evangelistic) gospel is not the most important message in the Bible. I'll have to add specific scripture later. But we can look to Genesis to see that we were created for God's glory, not the other way around. God's glory is the ultimate message.

3. I dont' think there is any blanket place, time, or situation where the gospel should not be preached. I think individual situations will come up where we may be hindering the message by preaching it 'now', instead of 'tomorrow'. One example is where I meet someone at work with whom I will be having constant contact for the next 4 months. Knowing that I can gain many more hearings with that person, I may want to build a trusting relationship with him first during the first few weeks of our contact.

[Jonathan Poland]

Hey Brian,

Thanks for replying. I know you're busy, and your thoughts on these issues are very valuable to me. I struggle with these things in my mind a lot.

I would like to point out a few things.

1. In question 1, it is interesting that you were speculating about my definition of the "gospel," whether it was the "evangelistic gospel" or not, and the whole point of my first question was to hear what YOUR definition of the "gospel" is as you distinguish it from other Biblical messages. LOL. :) I thought that was funny. No offense intended. Perhaps my intentions were not very clear.

It is also interesting that in your answer to question 1 you deal with the issue of whether there are other messages in the Bible that should be preached besides the gospel, which was not part of my question. I would, of course, agree with you that there certainly are other Biblical messages besides the gospel that should be preached, but I was inquiring after what you understand the gospel message to be and not be.

2. Also, in your answer to question 2, you seem to take up the issue of whether the gospel is the "most important message in the Bible" to preach. But again, that was not my question. I asked whether you thought the gospel was "more important to preach... than other messages."
I had in mind the messages we so often hear emphasized in our churches besides the gospel--not those of God's attributes or worth, but of our prosperity, success, self-esteem, relationship management, dealing with negative emotions, kicking bad habits, improving one's self, strengthening one's spiritual walk, etc. My question was one of our priorities and whether the gospel should be taking precedence over these topics in particular.

3. As for your answer to question 3, I'm not entirely sure I agree with you. I don't think we have the right to presume that this person at work you are speaking of will not die tonight! How do we know that we will be in constant contact with him/her for the next four months when we're not even supposed to boast of tomorrow? That seems like arrogance. Perhaps you might say that we ought to trust God that he will let that person live long enough for us to share the gospel at a more "opportune" time. But are we not trusting God even more if we share the gospel at the first possible opportunity, like we're supposed to? Ought we not to let God worry about whether or not we lose our job, or whether this person is offended, or whether we lose this relationship etc? Can we "hinder" the word of God by our obedience to it? Whereas assuming that this person will not die before we have another chance seems more like "tempting" the Lord than "trusting" him.

I am interested in what you think of these things, especially now that I have clarified my first two questions. Please ponder them, and I look forward to your response.

In His Gospel,

Jonathan

[Brian Lucero]

Hey Jon,

Quick reply. You must still be up from a long night of work!

1. My answer implies that there may be more than one definition: an evangelistic one for nonbelievers, and an all-encompassing one for believers as well.

I will have to take more time later to flesh out what I think the difference is.

I wasn't clear that you were looking for my definition of the gospel, but just that you wanted to know the distinctives contrasting the (assumed/your definition of the) gospel and any other message.

2. If the gospel is not the most important message, as I conveyed my thoughts, then it is clear that I am saying that there are other message(s) more important than the gospel, meaning that the message of the gospel is, of course, not more important than some messages.

3. I agree with you that we don't have the right to presume. That is my point; we cannot identify a blanket situation when the gospel should not be preached. In the same tone, I don't think we can identify blanket situations when the gospel should always be preached. My example above only shows that there may be a time when I come to the Lord to ask him if I should preach the gospel to a coworker I recently met, and he tells me to wait a week. God may say go, or he may say no, maybe later. Therefore I'm not presuming anything; whereas, it seems you are presuming that one should always preach, in which case I disagree. It's not a blanket yes, or a blanket no.

Good discussion! But I definitely agree that many church preaching is elevating prosperity, healing, success, and even other important, biblical doctrines above their rightful place and not underneith the importance of the gospel.

[Jonathan Poland]

Well, good. At least you agree with me about that.

1. So, anyway... yes I would like to hear your definition of "the gospel," and how you distinguish it from other messages in the Bible.

2. Again, your answer to question 2 does not seem to address my question. My question is not whether "there are other message(s) more important than the gospel." It is whether or not the gospel should take priority over any other messages in the Bible, and why.

3. As for your answer to Question 3, I am trying to discern what THE BIBLE commands us to do in this area. That is why my question asks you to support your answer from Scripture. I am not trying to presume anything without explicit Biblical command.
If I were presuming that we ought always to preach, no matter what, and Scripture said nothing to that effect, then I would be adding to Scripture, and that would be presumption.
I guess what I am trying to determine is whether Scripture COMMANDS us to preach always, like some ministers (such as Ray Comfort) teach. If it does, then it is not presumption to do so; it is obedience.

Thank you for sharing the burden of these thoughts with me. I never get to talk about these things with anyone.

In Christ,

Jonathan.

[Brian Lucero]

Jon, so what else have you been up to these last couple weeks? Haven't had time to chat. Are you getting that FASFA filled out?

2. Maybe I'm confused by your wording. But I would think that what's more important should definitely take higher priority. I don't the see the difference between importance and priority.

About your other wording, do you mean "every" instead of "any", as in "take priority over EVERY other message"? If you mean "any", then yes, I think the gospel takes priority over many other messages. If you mean "every", then no, I don't think the gospel take priority over every other message. Since as I said above, there are other messages which I think are more important and therefore should take higher priority than the gospel message.

In either case, however, I think there is subjectivity, as it all depends on one's definition of the gospel message. That is what I'll have to outline later.

3. Since I think preaching the message of the gospel isn't our highest priority, it makes sense that we would not do it EVERY moment of our lives. We have other priorities in our lives, even lesser priorities, which we need to take time out to work on. This is a great topic to discuss. Something which can really affect our outlook on life. Perhaps I can pull together a couple passages to expound from when I get back to Houston.

One quick one that comes to mind is "...be ready in season and out of season". It does not say 'preach always', but says something more to the effect of 'be ready always', for God may call you preach at any time in any place. It's being lead by the Spirit.

[Jonathan Poland]

Brian,
I haven't been doing much at all these last couple of weeks. One thing I have been doing is preparing my messages that I am going to start broadcasting on YouTube, God willing. I am very nervous about that. Keep me in your prayers. Also, thank you for reminding me about the FAFSA. I have to know where I am going to school and what I am taking before I can apply for it though, I think.

Anyway...

2. I don't see any difference between importance and priority either. That's not my point. This is my point:

Take a look at my second question. This is exactly what it says,

"2. Is it more important to preach "the gospel" than other messages in the Bible? Why or why not? Please support your answer with Scripture."

Notice that it does not say,

"Is it more important to preach "the gospel" than every other message in the Bible?"

or,

"Is it more important to preach "the gospel" than all other messages in the Bible?"

Rather, it says,

"Is it more important to preach "the gospel" than other messages in the Bible."

In other words, does it take precedence over any other messages in the Bible at all? And I had in mind those messages I mentioned before.

Whether or not it is the most important message in the Bible is not my question. It never was, as far as I know. So your answers have not been addressing the question; they have been changing the subject of the question.

I suppose you could clarify the question thus:

"Is it more important to preach "the gospel" than [any] other messages in the Bible [which we typically hear preached instead, whether or not it is the most important message of all]? Why or why not?"

[Jonathan Poland]

Brian,

I started to give my answers to the three questions below (like you asked me to). When you have time, take a look and tell me what you think.

[Jonathan Poland]

I apologize for the tone of my previous responses to you, Brian. They came across very aggressive and argumentative.
Part of the reason why I started this forum is because I wanted to wait and see how people would answer these questions. I wanted a number of others to jump in and join the debate, and I wanted to see how they would defend their position with Scripture.
But now that it seems to be just you and me, I will come out with my opinion, and how I would defend it from Scripture. That way we can look at it objectively and pick away at it; perhaps my mind will be changed.

[Jonathan Poland]

Okay,

1. My answer to question number one is this more or less:

The gospel is the Biblical message of the imputation of my sins to Christ at the cross and of God's righteousness in him to me, through no other means than my faith in Christ. In other words, the gospel is in essence the doctrine of justification by faith alone (sola fide).

Now, I can hear some people protesting, "What about the incarnation? The atonement? The resurrection? What about the other solas of the reformation? What about other important doctrines? Doesn't the gospel include them as well?"
Sure it does. But I believe the "linchpin," in a sense, is sola fide. I believe that is the central focus, because that is where God is most glorified in the "free-ness" (if you will) of his mercy, and the abundant riches of his grace, towards sinful men. Without the doctrine of justification by faith alone, all other doctrines only serve to become "another gospel," (Galatians 1:6-7). I see most of Paul's epistles, but especially the books of Galatians and Romans, as defending my definition of the gospel.

2. My answer to question 2 is this:

Yes, it is more important to preach the gospel than at least "most other" if not "all other" messages in the Bible, at least at this time in human history. It is quite possibly the most important message to preach.

Some reasons from Scripture:

a) God has ordained that he be most supremely and eternally glorified in the humbling of himself in Christ to love and save sinful men. Thus, Christ (our salvation) is what brings God supreme glory. This can be seen clearly in Romans 9:23, Ephesians 2:7, and Philippians 2:9-11.

b) This is apparently the end for which God created the world (1 Peter 1:19-20; Colossians 1:16b). It is therefore the principle reason we even exist.

c) God has also ordained that this salvation be through "the foolishness of preaching" (1 Corinthians 1:21).

d) That sole message through which men are ever saved is "the gospel" (1 Peter 1:24b). In Romans 1:16, the "gospel" is called "the power of God to salvation for everyone that believes." In 1 Corinthians 1:17a, 18, 23-24, it says this,
"For Christ sent me... to preach the gospel... For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
...But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God."

If these points were converted to premises for a logical argument, the deduction from them would be obvious. If points "a" through "d" are true the conclusion must be that the gospel is the most important message for us or any other person to preach, if we care at all about the will and the glory of God. In fact, to preach it, or to somehow support the preaching of it, would be our greatest expression of love for God's glory, and it should perhaps be the only message we concern ourselves with at all, all of our other deeds being merely a means to this end.

I will come back and try to answer question 3 when I have more time.

[Jonathan Poland]

3. Here is a quick answer to question 3:

I cannot think of one place in the Scriptures where we are ever commanded not to preach, for any reason. I do, on the other hand, see many commands in Scripture to preach (Mat 10:7; 28:19; Mark 16:15; 2 Tim 4:2;).
Whether or not every Christian is commanded to preach at all times to all people without distinction, I do not know. That is one reason why I asked this question. I am searching for the Biblical imperative on this specific question.
I do however believe it is a sin to distinguish between those to whom we will and will not preach based upon carnal reasons (their behavior, their wealth, their class-status, their race, their appearance, whether or not we think they will receive it, etc.).
Also, I believe it is wrong not to preach to someone just because we fear for our own safety. That is love of one's own life, and Jesus said those who love their own lives will lose them. Again, Jesus said that they who deny him before men, he will deny them before his Father in heaven. If we are not preaching the gospel, we must ask ourselves if we are ashamed of the gospel. That is a personal question that only the individual can answer for himself.

Of one thing I am certain. The gospel is most definitely not being preached in our country (on the street corners, in the marketplace etc.) as much as it ought to be!

This is simply a fact as far as I am concerned, and the fault of it can only fall upon us! The Church! Supposed believers! If the gospel is not being preached, it can only be our fault, because the unbelievers in the world aren't going to preach it! We have to! The burden falls squarely on our shoulders.

What can we do?

Buy gospel tracks, perhaps; or else make some of your own (that's what Spurgeon did). You can give them to strangers when you go through the drive-through, when you eat out, when you go to the movies, when you go to school, when you go to the mall. Perhaps you can use them to start a conversation with someone at work--break the ice. That would be a start anyway. It's better than doing nothing!
There are other things too. Study how to share your faith. Study the gospel. Theology! Apologetics! Sit down and write your testimony! Think about what God has done in your life. Read your Bible! Pray! Pray that God will open up his gospel to you. Pray that he will bring you to people who are prepared to hear it. Pray for opportunities, and for the courage and the faith, to preach.

First of all, Repent. That is where it has to begin. It going to take a change in our hearts before any significant change will happen. The reason we are not preaching is because we are not being obedient to God and his word. There is no quick way around it--no way to skip this painful step. We have to confess our sin and repent. We have to acknowledge our failures, our dependence on his mercy, and ask forgiveness. If we pray in faith, God will empower us to change. Our faithfulness to his word, and his glory above all, should be our primary concern.
I don't know what else to say about this right now, except that I am not there. I have no right to tell others how to do it, because I don't know myself.