Hearing the Gospel
By Timothy Glover
Paul writes that the gospel is God’s power to save (Rom. 1:16). When writing about the gospel in 1 Cor. 15, he affirms that it is that "by which we are saved". God would have all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). This is the reason Jesus commissioned his disciples to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mat. 28:18).
It is most logical to conclude that people must hear this gospel before they could take any interest in it (Acts 15:7). Romans 10:14 reads, "How shall they hear without a preacher?" Again, "How shall they believe in him whom they have not heard?" Having heard the gospel, salvation comes from our response to it. We either accept it as true or deny it as false. If we accept it as true, then we gladly obey it (Rom. 6:17). We must observe that the response seen in the bible is never praying through for salvation or going to an altar/mourner’s bench. Salvation is not experienced by waiting on the miraculous workings of the Holy Spirit to enable you to respond. Our response is through the natural process of hearing the news of Christ. If the gospel is God’s power to save, then let us be satisfied with his plan rather than adopting our own.
They record the first example of this truth in Acts 2. Peter, with the other apostles, preached the gospel to the people gathered in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. When the people heard this, they cried, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37) Peter told them to "repent and be baptized...in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (v. 38). When they did this, they were added to the church (v. 47). The church then, is composed of saved people. They were saved when they gladly received the word and were baptized (2:41).This pattern repeats itself throughout Acts. Acts 8 records Philip preaching Christ to the city of Samaria. "Many of them believed and were baptized." Another example is Acts 18:8 which reads, "...and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized." Their response was not conditioned upon seeing a vision or the Holy Spirit giving them a sign that they must then interpret from within. Rather, the first century responded when they heard the gospel preached. They would never have made such a response if they had not heard it.
The response by those who accept the gospel is one
of love. "God so loved the world of helpless
sinners that he gave his son to die for us"
(John 3:16, Rom. 5:6,8). Such love constrains us
(2 Cor. 5:14) and leads us to repentance so that we
might enjoy eternal salvation.
| Hear | Believe | Repent | Baptism |
| Confess | Obedient | Calling |