We are where we are spiritually because of somebody else. Two facts I would like to share with you this week…

First fact, our salvation began with what God did for us. We are saved because God loved us and gave His Son to take our rightful place on the cross (Romans 5:8). We brought nothing to the game; God did it all. Our response to this elaborate display of love was faith, and the Bible is clear that we didn’t even conjure that up on our own (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Next fact, we owe our knowing about what God and Jesus did for us to someone (or “someones”) in our life. They are the ones who shared the gospel with us at some point. It was their testimony or life or words that the Holy Spirit used to convince us of our need for a Savior. These are the faithful people who loved us enough to confront us with our lost condition and tell us how God could transform us into a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The above two facts lead me to a concluding question: “Why are we content to let it stop with us?” Every Christian is called to reproduce their lives in others. Jesus put it this way: “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). We are called to make a strong commitment to the great commission. Being a witness of the gospel is not optional in the Christian life, it is an obligation.

Paul felt such a pull to this calling that he wrote about it to the Christians in Rome.

¹⁴I am under obligation both to the Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. ¹⁵So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. (Romans 1:14-15)

He expresses his pull toward evangelism by using the word “obligation” that can also be translated “debt.” If we owe somebody money we are quick to pay it back. Why do we become negligent in paying the debt of sharing the gospel with others?

Grace & Peace,