 The Exchange Seminar this week has been tremendous! God has really blessed Jeff and Anna Musgrave with the ability to clearly and compellingly share the gospel. We have drunk deeply from those rich waters this week, and we have been convinced over and over again, both biblically and testimonially, that the gospel still works.
I want to pass along the challenge from Romans 1 with which Jeff started the seminar. These thoughts are very convicting, and combined with some other sermonettes that Jeff is bringing this week, they provide a very appropriate context for each session. In Romans 1:1, Paul affirms that he has been “set apart” to the gospel. While this word choice certainly communicates that there were some things that Paul had been set apart from (i.e., other worldviews, pursuits, etc.), he primarily has in mind here a positive separation. In marriage, a husband is “set apart” to his wife, and while that surely connotes a degree of separation from all other women, it is undoubtedly a positive dissociation because the new union with this one woman is more desirable. We know that Paul does not view this “setting apart” to the gospel as something unique to himself, for in verses 6-7 he refers to all believers as “called” and “set apart ones” (or “saints”). We all have been “set apart” to a more desirable reality – the gospel! But what does this look like? How do I know if I’m cooperating with God’s calling and engaging my life in this new association? I’ve received this new identity positionally, but how do I employ my practice to demonstrate this calling? With four “I am” statements in verses 14-16, Paul pictures for us what being “set apart” to the gospel looks like. From these statements, we discover that the gospel is not something we do, as much as it is something we are. 1. “I am under obligation” (v. 14). Paul is not subscribing to the legalistic “debtor’s ethic” which suggests that we owe God a debt that we should pay back with our lives, for he understands that the debt was already paid by Christ. Nonetheless, the truths of the gospel and our response of faith-filled worship to them will compel us to give ourselves to Jesus and His mission. In this passage, Paul is illustrating that we give ourselves to Jesus by giving ourselves to others. Paul acknowledges that His “not being His own” (cf. I Corinthians 6:19-20) obligated him to struggle on the behalf of others (cf. Colossians 1:24-2:5) – for both the beautiful and not so beautiful, for both the wise and the foolish. Do you recognize that the gospel has given you an obligation to others? 2. “I am eager” (v. 15). Paul was both (1) excited and (2) prepared to preach the gospel to the lost and the saved. I’ve experienced this week that part of what builds excitement in gospel-ministry is preparation for it. Are you prepared and therefore excited to share the gospel? 3. “I am not ashamed” (v. 16). What Paul is really saying here is that he is shameless in sharing the gospel. This is crucial to understand! Being shamelessly faithful in sowing the gospel seed is more important than being compelling, eloquent, reasonable, etc. While shamelessness is perhaps not natural and certainly counter-cultural, we have great reason to be shameless – our message, the gospel, is the “power of God unto salvation”! The gospel works, and Jesus saves, and His testimony through us is the effective means! We must be empowered by claiming by faith Jesus’ promise in Matthew 28:20 – He is with us! This “with you” life is what God is after, and it is the message of the gospel that constantly brings us back to this reality. So, meditate on the gospel to claim its power, and then speak the gospel to spread its power! Are you shameless in your spreading of the gospel? If you are “in Christ,” you have been “set apart” to His message of good news – the gospel. Are you practicing this calling? Do you recognize the obligation placed upon you by your Lord to labor to “present everyone perfect in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:28-29)? Have you prepared yourself to the point of excited faith that God will use you? Is your confidence in the gospel, so that its power is filling you to the point of shameless witness? Remember, the gospel is not something we do, as much as it is something we are. Learn to love the gospel, and allow your many meditations upon it to empower you with boldness to be who you are and to speak what you have become. Comments are closed.
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