Spread the Gospel Use Words if Necessary

Spread the gospel, use word is necessary, sounds pretty good. This is the motto of many of my Christian friends they say “we wouldn’t want to deliberately push our views on someone else. Unbelievers have their own views, their own worldview and empty words cannot change a person. Our lives should be such that we naturally do things that would attract non-believers to seek after what it is that we have, that they don’t have. We need to let our light shine in the darkness.” Titus 3:1 reminds us “to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humanity to all men.” These are the qualities that we as Christians are called to, and these qualities are attractive to outsiders.

We are told to obey the rulers and authorities that God has set us under. What type of respect do you give the police officer when he pulls you over? Generally, it does not bode well for us when we are pulled over–usually it is for some infraction of the law that we have committed, and mostly we deserve it–but the question is, how do you treat that officer of the law when you know this is going to cost you a couple hundred dollars out of your account (not to mention the increased insurance costs)?

We are told to be ready for every good work. This does not necessarily mean that we deliberately go out and do good works among our neighbors, but that we are ready to do good works wherever we are and whatever circumstance we find ourselves. My pastor tells a story of how seminary students were preparing to give their first sermon which was to be on the parable of the Good Samaritan. This was to be given before faculty and staff and of course many of the students were very nervous as they prepared for their big day. On the day the sermon was to be given their professor deliberately kept them in class so that they would be rushing to get to the chapel on time. On the way to the chapel an accident was staged and a person was lying on the ground as if injured and in need of care, with no other help available in sight but the young seminary student hurriedly making his way to the chapel to give his exposition on the parable of the good Samaritan. Well, only 2 of ten students stopped to help the victim, the rest rushed by on their way to teach how the Samaritan was the only one to stop and give aid to the needy man hence, acting as his neighbor. We need to always be ready for every good work in all circumstances.

We are to speak evil of no one and be peaceable and gentle, qualities that are rare in people. It is difficult to find those who speak well of others, even those who have wronged them or have opposing worldviews or morals. Our tongues are sinfully twisted, James tells us that “the tongue is a little member but boasts great things” (James 3:5), and “the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by hell” (James 3:6). In verse 8 of chapter 3 James says, “but no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” According to the apostle James, we all fail at speaking evil of no one, yet that is our calling and to be at peace and gentle to all men. There is a way that men can disagree and yet be so gentle in their disagreement that peace is kept, that way I am still trying to find.

Lastly, Paul says that we are to show humanity to all men. When I think of the word ‘humanity’, I immediately begin to focus on charitable works, humanitarian organizations feeding, housing, tending for the poor and less fortunate, giving them fish and showing them how to fish and do for themselves. We as Christians should be leading the way in setting the example for the world to follow in our humanitarian efforts. Our churches should be active in helping the less fortunate in tangible ways, ways they can measure in warm meals, warm clothing, warm shelter, they should be places of compassion for the outcasts and downtrodden, the world should be looking in on Christ’s church and taking notes of how to care for the needy and destitute, as opposed to the other way around. We should be seeking justice for the helpless, and showing tender care for orphans and widows. Jesus speaks much about attending to the poor to the extent that when you have done good things to the least of these, you have done it unto Christ Himself. Paul speaks of a “list” that widows were to be put on if they were over sixty and were reported to have done good works in their life. Whether this list was a list for special care or a list for those worthy of ministering in the church, the implication is that the church was looking after their well being, both physically and spiritually.

We are to be humanitarians and care deeply for the suffering of strangers and we should be moved ourselves to be charitable, and to be praying for those who suffer. Our good works should be such that unbelievers should take note. 1 Peter 2:12 states, “having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.” Peter is telling us to behave in such a way that when God determines to ‘visit’ the unbelievers in a regenerating way, they will remember your good conduct and glorify God because of it. Hence, Peter is saying that God uses our good acts as a means to have those who have crossed over from death to life, glorify Him because they have observed our good works and conduct. Our demeanor can be an encouragement to the conversion of unbelievers as well as a hindrance. Our Lord in Matthew 5:16 also states, “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” We are called to be an encouragement to unbelievers.

Many Christians believe that humanitarian efforts and a good reputation among outsiders is in fact sharing the gospel, hence the phrase “spread the gospel, use words if necessary”. They are convinced that Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:33-46, where Jesus blesses the sheep for tending to the least of these and curses the goats for not doing so, is the basis upon which men will be either justified or condemned before God. This is a gross misunderstanding of the passage; Jesus here has already separated the sheep from the goats, the inherited kingdom is a place said to have been prepared for the sheep before the foundation of the world, this terminology underscores that their salvation is a gracious gift of God, not something merited by the deeds described in vv 35-36. John MacArthur comments “Before the foundation of the world they were chosen by God and ordained to be holy (Eph 1:4)—predestined to be conformed to Christ’s image (Rom 8:29). So the good deeds commended in vv 35-36 are the fruit, not the root of their salvation. The deeds are not the basis for their entrance into the kingdom, but merely manifestations of God’s grace in their lives. They are the objective criteria for judgment, because they are the evidence of saving faith (cf James 2:14-26).”

The gospel is not about what man does for man, but it is about what God has done for man. It is an arrogant assumption and quite frankly, sinful to believe that we exude such virtue that by our own good works alone, men will come to faith. It is the age old sin of man attempting to ascribe to himself attributes that belong only to God. Our humanitarian efforts, as well intended as they are, are in the end the works of the law. For Paul says in Galatians 3:11, “but that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith,” Paul also says in Galatians 3:2, “this only I want to learn from you: did you receive the spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” It is in the hearing that a man receives the Spirit of God. It is in hearing the gospel message.

It is a message of reconciliation between a holy God and sinful men, it is the story of God’s redeeming plan for mankind and the Savior who came to purchase sinful men with His blood. It tells sinners that there is a mediator between God and man and that man has access to the holy of holies through the mediation of this Savior, Jesus Christ. It speaks of adoption, inheritance, and blessing, without which man has no hope. It communicates the love the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit share and how we as lowly creatures have been adopted into the household of this Triune God. It is powerful, and it saves and it is brought to the ears of the unregenerate by means of a preacher. “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher (Rom 10:14)?”

The gospel is not spread through good works, but through the faithful preaching of the Word of God. Let us remove from our minds the notion that our good works saves men. Let us conform ourselves to what the scriptures proclaim, and therefore spread the gospel, and preach the Word, for words are necessary!!!

Clay