(1). PREACHING THE GOSPEL TO YOUR OWN SOUL INCREASES YOUR LOVE FOR GOD, FOR OTHERS, AND FOR THE LOST. These three loves represent the two greatest commandments and the Great Commission. The gospel focuses us on God’s great love for us and of the infinite price that He paid to redeem us from our sins. Paul exults (Eph. 2:4-5), “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” Meditating often on what God did for us in the gospel will fill our hearts with love for Him. The gospel also increases our love for others. Many verses could be cited, but note Ephesians 5:1-2, “Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us….” And, the gospel increases our love for those who need to know Christ. After Paul goes through the gospel in Romans 3-8, reaching the crescendo of God’s unfailing love that enables us to endure all trials (Rom. 8:35-39), Paul’s next words tell of his great sorrow and unceasing grief because his fellow Jews are not, for the most part, saved (Rom. 9:1-3). Rehearsing the gospel to your own soul burdens you with the condition of those who need to hear about Jesus Christ. (2). PREACHING THE GOSPEL TO YOUR OWN SOUL HUMBLES YOUR PRIDE. Pride is at the root of every sin. Pride leads me to think that I know better than God does what is good for me. Pride leads me to be selfish and disregard the feelings of others. Pastor Vincent writes (p. 32), “Nothing suffocates my pride more than daily reminders regarding the glory of my God, the gravity of my sins, and the crucifixion of God’s own Son in my place.” That is Paul’s point after explaining that the gospel is totally from God, who chose us in spite of our foolishness and weakness (in 1 Cor. 1:26-28), “so that no man may boast before God” (1 Cor. 1:29). (3). PREACHING THE GOSPEL TO YOUR OWN SOUL CAUSES YOU TO GLORIFY GOD IN ALL THINGS, INCLUDING YOUR TRIALS. As we saw in Ephesians 1, the fact that God chose us before the foundation of the world and saved us through Christ’s blood is all “to the praise of the glory of His grace” (Eph. 1:6; see also, 1:12, 1:14). Also, as Paul shows repeatedly, reveling in the gospel of God’s grace towards us while we were yet sinners causes us to rejoice even in our trials, knowing that He is using them to conform us to the image of His Son (Rom. 5:1-8; 8:28-39). Far more could be said, but the point is: appropriate the gospel personally by preaching it to your own soul often.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Sep 2013 16:23:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015