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Saved and Called to a Holy Calling

Understand God’s charge to all who have received His mercy and grace: we, the body of Christ, are God’s plan for spreading the gospel! We were saved by the gospel and for the gospel. He has called us and entrusted us with the good news and then commissioned us to sow it throughout the world.

Oddly enough, after we have been given such a glorious gift, the thought of sharing this treasure with others challenges us and our faith to the core. The message that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is the only way to God and salvation contradicts humanity’s natural way of thinking, for those who see it as utter foolishness (1 Cor. 1:18-19 ESV). It is not socially, politically, culturally, emotionally, or intellectually “correct.” We easily lose sight of the eternal and get entangled in the temporal. Our flesh is weak; in fact, the flesh is no help at all. It opposes the Spirit. In other words, we will never naturally feel inclined to share the gospel, but we have been given the Holy Spirit to guide us. Remember John’s words, that the Holy Spirit will teach us all things and bring them to our remembrance (Jn. 14:26 ESV). What fears cross your mind when you consider sharing the gospel?

Paul was convinced of the power of the gospel: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16 ESV). His life was ordered by the gospel. Each day, he lived out his faith and trust in the gospel, prioritizing the sharing of the gospel. His passion and prayer for Timothy was that he, too, would see that he had been saved by the gospel and for the gospel and order his life accordingly! Paul understood Timothy’s weakness and inability to accomplish anything in the flesh, but Paul also knew that Timothy had the power of the Spirit. The power and ability to preach and proclaim the gospel are found right in the gospel itself. The Holy Spirit had revealed Paul’s weakness. He had been an enemy of the gospel, and after he was converted, even Paul, the great evangelist, preached the gospel with “much trembling” (1 Cor. 2:1-5 ESV).

We need to confront and confess our timidity, resistance, and unbelief caused by the sinful flesh. One of the best antidotes for overcoming the disease of the flesh is the gospel.